17. July 2014 was shot down over the Ukraine, a Boeing with 298 people on Board. Most of the victims were Dutch. The artist Ronald A. Westerhuis has created for the victims and members of a Monument.
The location of the collection will look like: a miniature of the Monument
DW: Mr Westerhuis, on Monday, the redesigned memorial site for the victims of flight MH17 inaugurated. What prompted you personally to create this memorial?
Ronald A. Westerhuis: On the day of the attack, I held myself in Shanghai where I have a Studio. The news of this terrible terrorist attack hit me so hard that I decided two days later, him, artist, Mature, Japanese Elevator. The immediate personal motive lies in the fact that I am myself a number of times in the month, with the plane on the way. I spend a lot of time in airplanes. And so it was immediately clear to me that it could happen to any individual. That’s why I felt the urge myself with the topic.
How have you approached the subject? What are the Considerations you have followed?
I wanted to create a place where people feel their Concerns may expose, you to find at the same time, but also hope. In the implementation, I had three different models. The first is the monument on the Dam square. It is, in my eyes, for national unity. It celebrates this unity, and this is a very important train. The second model of the Holocaust memorial in Berlin. It is an abstract sculpture, and that is precisely why you can feel the inner tension – even if you know nothing about the Holocaust. The third model of the Vietnam war Monument in Washington, D.C. The lists of names are very powerful.
These three elements, I wanted to let into my sculpture to flow. So I designed a corrugated steel wall from 16 meters in length and four meters in height. From my point of view it stands for the loss and the resulting pain. In front of this wall is a further sculpture, which also symbolizes life extinguished. In the name of all the victims are engraved. If you look at this sculpture, it looks like a heaven-directed eye. So I wanted to represent a connection between the Survivors and the dead in heaven.
Most of the victims came predominantly from the Netherlands, but also from other countries. The memorial is to a human, the limits in excess of expressing pain?
Yes. It is an international Monument. I created it in the first place for the families of the victims. However, if in perhaps 50 or 100 years from now someone goes to this place, it should make still this terrible act can be experienced.
For the Monument you have used a special kind of steel. Why?
When it rains, it changes the steel to its colors. So I wanted to give the grief in different ways, in different shades of expression. In addition, the steel dissolves in the course of time, he disappears. Also, this way I wanted to Express the pain of the disappearance. This is, of course, above all, a metaphorical expression. Because, in fact, the steel is so thick, that he will also be in 500 years.
What do you think you could find the relatives on the memorial? It could help you to overcome the pain?
I have spoken with many families of the victims. I dare but to raise the claim that the Monument could help you somehow. I think it’s about two things: first of all, I hope that the relatives know someday what really happened, who fired the missile. Secondly, you will find peace at this Monument, maybe a little and can deal with their grief apart. You might find this place a sense of comfort. The king inaugurates the Monument on Monday, exactly three years after the attack. Maybe it gives the members a place to go.
How does the 17. July 2014 today in the collective consciousness of the low countries? Did he leave a trail?
Yes, he has. There were 200 Dutch victims. So that the attack concerns, 60 percent of the total Dutch population. 60 percent of the low countries, directly or indirectly, someone who was sitting in this plane. As the bodies were brought back and the low countries saw the hearse, gathered very many people on the roadside. For us Dutch it is a date such as 11. September 2001. If you are with people on the 11. September speaks, you can remind everyone about where he was, what he ate, where they heard the message for the first Time. For the Dutch it is the same with MH17 exactly. Every Dutchman remembers to this day. He is deeply rooted in our consciousness.
Ronald A. Westerhuis is a Dutch artist. He creates steel sculptures in the Public space.
The Interview was conducted by Kersten Knipp.