Allerzielen Alom

Artists’ contributions

Artists make the celebrations special and meaningful. They have the capability to express what the spirit or the emotion wants to say, in a way which can move people. Objects and activities are carefully considered, designed, and placed. The imagination is an important element in this way of celebration All Souls’ Day. Somtimes it has to do with beauty, but sometimes the intention is to confront, or to intentionally free something. It should be noted that this is done with the utmost care in the context of Allerzielen Alom. Trust enters on foot and leaves on a horse.

Laundryaa-zorgvlied-oski-253

A laundry line with white clothing is hung up near the entrance. Words are printed on the clothing which express some kind of relationship, Dad, Mom, hero, colleague, lover, neighbour. It suggests to visitors that they could commemorate other people besides their own family and friends. Of was it lost contacts? Is that what is left over?

Paraffin sculpture_mg_2409resized

Various large and small paraffin figures with a wick built in on their reverse are set up at a central location. Illuminated human figures when the wicks are lighted. The association with the transitory nature of life is felt by all. People also find it comforting to be able to place a candle nearby.

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Small vegetable gardens can be made from graves. One of the artists saw the relation ship between a visit to the grave, and taking care of a city garden. He planted vegetables and herbs in the flowerbed of graves. Visitors could pick out a pack of seeds and do that at their own graves. Sowing and caring for the plants provides an extra connection with the location. The eventual harvest is can be symbolically seen as a gift from the deceased.

Ice projections_mg_9371resized

Photographs of the deceased were filmed with a Super-8 movie camera. During the celebration, they were projected onto seven plates of ice hanging in a tree. The portraits came to life through the film, and slowly died away again through the melting of the ice. This kind of theater provided a poetic way of looking into another reality, a window to the past.

© Pé Okx

Dreamwords_mg_2485resized

An artist slowly pushed a wheelbarrow full of wooden letters through the ground, and layed them down on the path in the grass at unexpected locations. One could thus come across words such as ‘farewell’, ‘stillness’, ‘heavenly blue’, or ‘universe’.

Drawings of graves

In order to ‘make contact’ with all the graves in the church cemetery of  Overweerse Polderdijk, an artist made a drawing of every grave with the names of the deceased. A demonstration of respect for the deceased and their families. The drawings were carried during a procession in Purmerend.

Mozaic lamps

Four large cubic lamps with cutouts of Maroccan patterns provide for a special ambiance. The lamps can be used themselves, or as part of a ritual.

Father and daughter

A father says goodbye to his daughter. She returns again and again to the pleace where she saw him for the last time. Een vader neemt afscheid van zijn dochtertje. She waits longingly for his return, in a few days, seasons, years? The film Father and Daughter by Michael Dudok de Wit is moving.

© Animated film by Michael Dudok de Wit