‘Boring’ cabinet brightened up with flowery memories of Aalsmeer seniors

Armed with wax crayons and paint, about fifteen residents of Care Center Aalsmeer set to work on Wednesday morning. There is a large white sheet of paper all over the table, which artist Stephanie Rhode allows them to decorate with flowers of all shapes and sizes. “Just get started. Everything is fine!” she encourages them.

The artist has thought carefully about the design. The elderly change places now and then, so that the drawings start to overlap. “If everyone does a little drawing, you get very quickly like, ‘oh, I can’t do it’ or ‘he or she is doing better’. This way [red. op een groot doek] bring out a little open-mindedness.” The old days start cautiously, but soon the colorful creations splash off the canvas.

What Stephanie hopes would happen, happens: the seniors start talking about the old days. “My father had a nursery with flowers and my husband was involved in the export of flowers,” says an enthusiastic participant. Her hands have been paralyzed for a while, so she is extra proud of her contribution.

“We had a lot of lilac bushes”, says another proudly. “They were in the country in the summer and for the winter you had to keep them at home until you could bring them into the greenhouse.” The man and his wife joined today. “Yes, I can’t draw,” he says quickly. “But she does” and he looks on in admiration as his wife puts a pink lilac on the canvas.

The gigantic drawing that the seniors make together is eventually reduced in size, so that it fits on the electrical box on the roundabout closest to the care home. In a few months they will be able to admire the work of art there.

Seven roundabouts

It’s not the only box along the infamous redesigned N196 that is painted. “There are seven roundabouts, all with electrical boxes. We then see blank canvases that can be filled,” says Jolanda Verboom of Kunstkast. She aims to paint all electrical boxes in the Netherlands, starting with Aalsmeer.

Together with artist Femke Kempes she started the project ‘the history lies beneath’. “We were very much looking for that connection,” says Femke. I approached a total of seven artists with the assignment: ‘Go and see what information, visual material and text you can pick up from the residents to give you inspiration for your design for that art cabinet.’

In the end, they must all become works of art for the neighbourhood. Kunstkast has received a subsidy from the municipality of Aalsmeer to roll out the project. The first cabinets are expected to be painted or printed in June.