Exhibition:
June 13 - September 21
June 13 - September 21
Speech Official Opening
By Anna Tilroe
Your Majesty, ladies and gentlemen
It is my honour to explain to you the theme of Sonsbeek 2008 and how it is expressed in the exhibition. I will keep it brief, even though I find that difficult as Grandeur is a notion to which a lot of history is attached and which can easily be misunderstood in the sense of gaudiness and affectation. This is not at all what I mean by Grandeur, which is why I was recently asked by an interviewer whether there was something I believed in. Yes, I said. I believe in the human potential. I believe that possibilities lie hidden in us that we still know absolutely nothing about and which we cannot even picture to ourselves. And I believe that we have just one means of getting a glimpse of these and that is our imagination. Our imagination enables us to see things, the world and ourselves differently from what is generally accepted and then new openings and new insights can suddenly arise. That’s why I believe in art. For art is the most perfect, many-sided and profound expression of this imagination. Art gives us the hope that we can see ourselves and the world differently.
This 10th Sonsbeek is therefore not about Grandeur as a model that has to be imitated, but as something that each of us has to discover for ourselves. Nobody is born grand and human grandeur is not something that can be bought. But each of us is certainly familiar with the desire to be bigger and better than his or her everyday, limited self. The pursuit of this comes to the fore in all manner of ways in this exhibtion. On the basis of works of art by 28 artists from 14 countries a story is told that everyone can recognise. A story that begins with seeing and remembering and then, by way of nature and our ingenious interventions in it, proceeds through to society - the power of the community as well as the struggle of the individual to discover oneself in this, the inner conflict, to become human in a sense that we like best to hear, and of course the dream, the utopia, since the imagination, the power of art, makes it possible to think the impossible. And history shows that the impossible was indeed very much possible a number of generations later.
As you know, one dream has already come true with this Sonsbeek. As a prelude to the official opening that, to our great joy, you, Your Majesty, are prepared to perform, there was a procession. Almost a thousant inhabitants of Arnhem, coming from all layers of the population, carried the works of art, in full or in part, in a solemn yet festive procession through the streets. They were applauded by thirty thousand people. Never before has art been so vigorously and enthousiastically embraced by the population of a city.
The great momemt has now come that the works can be seen in their full glory in Sonsbeek Park. Your Majesty, our sincere thanks for your willingness to open the 10th Sonsbeek exhibition.
It is my honour to explain to you the theme of Sonsbeek 2008 and how it is expressed in the exhibition. I will keep it brief, even though I find that difficult as Grandeur is a notion to which a lot of history is attached and which can easily be misunderstood in the sense of gaudiness and affectation. This is not at all what I mean by Grandeur, which is why I was recently asked by an interviewer whether there was something I believed in. Yes, I said. I believe in the human potential. I believe that possibilities lie hidden in us that we still know absolutely nothing about and which we cannot even picture to ourselves. And I believe that we have just one means of getting a glimpse of these and that is our imagination. Our imagination enables us to see things, the world and ourselves differently from what is generally accepted and then new openings and new insights can suddenly arise. That’s why I believe in art. For art is the most perfect, many-sided and profound expression of this imagination. Art gives us the hope that we can see ourselves and the world differently.
This 10th Sonsbeek is therefore not about Grandeur as a model that has to be imitated, but as something that each of us has to discover for ourselves. Nobody is born grand and human grandeur is not something that can be bought. But each of us is certainly familiar with the desire to be bigger and better than his or her everyday, limited self. The pursuit of this comes to the fore in all manner of ways in this exhibtion. On the basis of works of art by 28 artists from 14 countries a story is told that everyone can recognise. A story that begins with seeing and remembering and then, by way of nature and our ingenious interventions in it, proceeds through to society - the power of the community as well as the struggle of the individual to discover oneself in this, the inner conflict, to become human in a sense that we like best to hear, and of course the dream, the utopia, since the imagination, the power of art, makes it possible to think the impossible. And history shows that the impossible was indeed very much possible a number of generations later.
As you know, one dream has already come true with this Sonsbeek. As a prelude to the official opening that, to our great joy, you, Your Majesty, are prepared to perform, there was a procession. Almost a thousant inhabitants of Arnhem, coming from all layers of the population, carried the works of art, in full or in part, in a solemn yet festive procession through the streets. They were applauded by thirty thousand people. Never before has art been so vigorously and enthousiastically embraced by the population of a city.
The great momemt has now come that the works can be seen in their full glory in Sonsbeek Park. Your Majesty, our sincere thanks for your willingness to open the 10th Sonsbeek exhibition.