works of art in Pendrecht
There are many works of art in Pendrecht, including sculptures and paintings. Below is a small selection.
District artist Rex Mundio, his real name is Victor Cobos, has already made several works of art in Pendrecht. The painting Aquarius is 14 meters long and is unveiled on 4 July 2003, 50 years after the floods of 1953. This work of art clearly shows the relationship between Pendrecht and the water.
The painting can be found at Plein 1953 ("Square 1953"), the square in the center of Pendrecht.
Many people pass this spot daily but not everyone is known with this work of art. An underground station is a place were most people stay as short as possible. This untitled concrete work of art can be seen in the entrance hall of Slinge station and was designed by Carla Kaper. With materials, normally used to construct an underground railway, she created a work of art, inspired by the remainders of concrete bunkers in the dunes.
Slinge underground station was opened on 25 November 1970. A small part of the work of art has become invisible due to the lowered ceiling after the recent renovation works in the station hall.
The Two workers with spade and mattock can be found at the side-facade of the shops at the street Zijpe and are typical for the post-war rebuilding period. The sculptures, made by Han Richters and Koos van Vlijmen, represent two building workers. Every sculpture is about 1 meter (3 feet) high.
Both sculptures are unveiled on 18 May 1956 by Mr. H.B.J. Witte (the then Minister of Rebuilding and Public Housing) during his visit to Pendrecht. At that time, the district was not finished yet. In 1990, the sculptures were replaced by replicas because the original ones were weathered.
These are creations by Rex Mundio as well. The colored dice can be found along the Slinge, the main through road. This work of art is temporally as it is placed at a spot which is intended for new houses.
The photograph shows 6 dice but in fact there are 12. Close to these colored dice are 6 other ones in black and white. In the background are tenement houses built in 1956; this block has been renovated in 2003 and the outside now looks as new.
Recently Rex Mundio created another temporal work of art. Along the Oldegaarde, the main through road at the north edge of Pendrecht, he constructed 12 domino tiles, all in different colors.
The statue Two shopping girls is known by every inhabitant of Pendrecht but only a few know that it was not erected here originally. In 1966 the sculpture, made by Loeki Metz, was unveiled next to the concert hall De Doelen in the city centre of Rotterdam. On request of the neighbourhood council the statue was moved to Pendrecht one year later. It is placed at Plein 1953, the shopping area of Pendrecht.
Originally the statue stood in a small grass area. Due to the upgrade of the square, the statue was temporally removed in 1998. On 14 October 2000 the refurbished Plein 1953 was official opened by unveiling the re-placed statue. Sadly the grass areas are gone.
This is a work of art you can walk over. The pavement around the Zuiderkroon ("Southern Crown") building has been decorated with three different leafs. The leafs are designed by Dicky Brand and one of them, photographed by Pieter Vandermeer, is shown at the left. The drawing at the right shows the location of the leafs around the building.
The Zuiderkroon consists of two tower blocks with homes for senior citizens. The two blocks are connected by a low-rise building which contain a restaurant and the district's Health Centre.
(translation) OLD LAID IN NEW, BRIDGE BETWEEN THEN AND NOW, A BRICK OF THE OLD VALCKENSTEYN, THE FIRST OF THE NEW. 29 MAY 1969 |
The first built elderly home in Pendrecht was Valckensteyn. It was completed in 1971 and at that time it was the highest building in Pendrecht with 14 floors. The building is named after a demolished castle not far away from Rotterdam.
The first "stone" of the new Valckensteyn is a metal tablet with inscription and contains an original brick of the old castle which is about 500 years old. The original Dutch text is remarkable as all letters "u" are replaced by "v" (I don't know why). The tablet was placed in the entrance hall, after the demolition of Valckensteyn in 2012 the stone was saved and transferred to the Pendrecht Museum where it still can be seen.
The very newest work of art is located in the Zuiderkroon Health Centre. It is named Memory and is designed by Miriam Reeders.
Stories of Pendrecht origin are the starting-point. Miriam interviewed 75 district inhabitants (I was one of them) and they were all asked to tell a special memory. Every memory is converted into a triptych, consisting of a text, a photograph and a drawing. All triptychs are placed on metal panels, hanging in the waiting rooms and the corridors. The triptychs can be moved randomly so that the memories are interweaved with each other. By the way, there are no names mentioned, all memories are anonymous. The stories of 15 employees are perpetuated as well, thus giving the health centre a personal tinge.
If you have read about my other hobby, you can imagine what my special memory is: my first visit to Colditz on 15 July 1986. The left photograph shows a small part of one of the panels, the three plates belonging to my memory are at the top row. The other photograph shows the drawing made by Miriam referring to my memory.