1/2 Geerten Verberkmoes with the BoZ violin (photo: Erik Peeters)
A violin that, in addition to music, also interprets a city? Geerten Verberkmoes from Bergen op Zoom accepted the challenge. He built the BoZ violin as an ode to the city and as an enrichment of his craft. He collected all materials for the bowed instrument in and around Bergen op Zoom.
“I wanted to explore for myself how far you can go and what you can find. So it turns out that you can build a great violin with raw materials from the environment. Also sustainable, because why would you get wood from the other side of the world if you can have it right around the corner”, explains the passionate violin maker.
“My violin is a tribute to the city where I live and work.”
Geerten was born and raised in Bergenaar. “I want to pay tribute to the city where I live and work with my violin. Bergen op Zoom has a rich history and a vibrant cultural life. I incorporated that into the instrument.”
He used, among other things, maple wood from Landgoed Vrederust and lilac wood from the city centre. The varnish layer is made of linseed oil from Zeeland, pine resin from the Molenzicht nature reserve and the madder herb from the historic garden at the Markiezenhof.
“With this violin I did everything I like.”
The oldest is a 500 year old piece of cow bone. “That comes from archaeological excavations on the Noordsingel. In a monastery here, the monks ate the meat for years and threw the bones into a well.”
Geerten Verberkmoes, he worked for many years as a teacher of violin making at the conservatory in Ghent. He recently started working for himself again. “I did everything I like with this violin. I went into it in an open and creative way.”
The beautiful carvings at the end of the neck belong to one of the two wild men who also adorn the city coat of arms. A small anchovy is visible on the tailpiece of the instrument. “I made that from mother-of-pearl from a swan mussel from the Binnenschelde.”
“There are also hidden jokes in the violin.”
“During construction, you keep coming up with new things. There are also hidden jokes in the violin,” says Geerten, pointing to a tiny hole at the bottom of the violin. “If you look through here, you can see the skyline of Bergen op Zoom.”
And as if that were not enough, there appears to be another special feature ‘hidden’ in the violin. A Geerten removes a wooden cap from under the strings. A connection of a USB stick appears. “The stick contains a documentary that my son Daan made about the construction of the violin. Future generations can see how it all went.”
“Each violin is unique and sounds different.”
Although the BoZ violin is not yet completely lacquered, violinist Carmen Jabobs from Bergen op Zoom has already played it. “It has a warm and open sound. Not a typical Berg dialect, or maybe a little. After all, every violin is unique and sounds different.”
Geerten hopes that his artwork will eventually find a good destination, preferably in Bergen op Zoom. On May 14, the BoZ violin can be seen and heard for the first time during a special concert in the Markiezenhof.
