Upcoming: March 30 (opening) - May 5 2019
Het woord / Ode aan de Synode in Pictura Dordrecht,
Tanja Smit, Niels Post, Gracia Khouw
April 20, 3 PM - Artist talks + concert
TWELVE / TWAALF
The number twelve carries religious symbolism, generally representing perfection, entirety, or cosmic order in traditions since antiquity.
For the exhibition 'Het woord' I’ve collected approximately 900 Dutch twelve-letter words. From this list I’ll select twelve twelve-letter words that I’ll elaborate into twelve images. These will be shown as large format posters, fine art prints and a leporello.
For this project I’m collaborating with Landa van Vliet who’s sense of language is extensive in general, and for me related to the area of South of Holland specifically. I’ve asked her to write a text about the number and thoughts about the twelve letter words. We discussed about words that did’t make the selection. Words like ‘keelgeluiden’ (throat sounds) or ‘verhandeling’ (treatise or essay). Her text ‘Levenswandel tot mijn twaalfde’ (‘Walk of life until I was twelve’) has an overwhelming quality, a bit like all the twelve letter words in the list. I’m very proud of the result. Brought together in the zig zag fold prose and images add different approach to thinking about the Dutch language and it’s connection to images.
Sneak preview images
Read Press release Pictura NL/EN
Schotschrift, leporello, with prose Landa van Vliet (NL),
103,6 x 21 cm (folded A5 = 14,8 x 21 cm), digital print, limited edition
price opening € 12 (regular price is € 24), mail to reserve a copy
001 /from the series TWAALF (TWELVE), 2019 / dimensions variable
> Click on the images and invite (NL)
LINK to Pictura
Photos of Pictura, Dordrecht and Robotlab, installation near Het Hof van Nederland museum
The Synod of Dordrecht was an international Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618–1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The synod also initiated an official Dutch Bible translation (the Statenvertaling, i.e. Translation of the States or, The Dutch Authorized Version) from the original languages that would be completed in 1637. Translators were appointed, and the States-General were asked to fund the project. It had a lasting impact on the standard Dutch language, which was just then beginning to gain wider acceptance and developing a literary tradition. It would remain the standard translation in Protestant churches for more than three centuries and still is used in some sister churches of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations and similar, smaller denominations.
(Wikipedia)
