Fall Exhibition Monument 2005

The Kunstfort is over a hundred years old. As a part of the military defence system ‘Stelling van Amsterdam’ it is a remembrance of an important part of our national history, but it is also acknowledged as world heritage by UNESCO. But what exactly makes a monument a monument? What does that term mean, and how does such a label change an object?

Thinking about the term ‘monument’ one quickly sees the need to discern between the type of monument that carries that name because it is made in remembrance of something, like a statue, and the monument like the Kunstfort, which was built to fulfil a practical purpose. Such a monument is considered valuable because it reminds us of something that no longer exists, because it is beautiful, or rare, or simply because it is very old.

What both kinds of monument have in common is, that they are built or being protected to exist for a very long time, to hold on to a part of history. Four artists in residence, selected by the fortress on recommendation by, amongst others, Koen Brams (Van Eijckacademie, Maastricht) and Jos Houweling (Sandberginstituut, Amsterdam) have worked with this subject in the project studios in the Kunstfort. Two of them have looked at the subject from the first angle, the monument that has been put up in memory of something. Loes Heebink connected the history of the fortress to such a monument, in a physical remembrance of a fallen pilot. Guy Bahir looked into the definition of such a monument and put one up for himself – and doing so exhausted the meaning of the word. Antonis Pittas made a monument to his mother, but also includes the fortress as cultural heritage in his project. Laurent Liefooghe, as the only architect in the group, focussed on the fortress as heritage exclusively.

The results of the working period of this international group of artists on the fortress can be seen in the fall exhibition Monument, from September 3rd to November 6th.