First edition Art Parade at Binnenhof renovation
Those cheap, white plastic chairs you see all over the world. For five days in late May 2023, some 120 of them were piled high and tied together with many other types of chairs in between. The special stack was on the Plein next to the Binnenhof in The Hague. Pontifically next to the statue of William of Orange. Between the chairs were wishes and thoughts on important issues that concern people these days: climate, freedom of speech, calls to listen to each other, sharing love instead of judgment and hate.
The sculpture of chairs is a temporary work of art by visual artist Tirzo Martha (1965, Willemstad, Curaçao). During the renovation of the Binnenhof, Atelier Rijksbouwmeester will organize a series of art projects over the next few years in collaboration with the Senate and House of Representatives, the Council of State, the Ministry of General Affairs and the Municipality of The Hague. Twelve (inter)national artists have been invited to create a temporary work in the public space around the Binnenhof. To Tirzo Martha the honor of Edition 01 of this Kunstparade.
For Martha, art is above all not an object you buy and put somewhere for decoration. Art is about imagination and that is crucial to our existence. Imagination means liberation. All people have dreams, nightmares, wishes and ideals. As an artist he re-creates reality to make visible what we take for granted, where opportunities and possibilities lie. For he is convinced that everyone can contribute. He always creates his projects together with others. For him, beauty lies in people themselves.
For this first edition of the Art Parade, it was the Senate's turn. They came up with the theme of reflection. In conversations with people, Martha came up with chairs, the seats on which members of parliament take their seats after being elected. How does it feel to occupy such a seat? How do you look at social developments from that position? How can we as the community contribute to the proper functioning of such a seat? As far as he is concerned, sitting and taking a seat is not something passive. Martha: "They (ed. Upper House members) are on the road and talking to people a lot. And when their term as an MP is over, they relinquish their seat to someone else." That movement is embodied in this artwork.
To arrive at the chair sculpture, Martha organized a parade of chairs on Saturday, May 27. Everyone was invited to walk with their own chair in a parade to the Square. On the spot, the artist built a sculpture with all those chairs to which the participants and later other interested parties could add texts with thoughts they would like to contribute as a Chamber member. Everyone belongs. Even William of Orange, the father of the fatherland, as evidenced by the rope Martha tied around the statue like a lasso.