Robbert van der Horst, together with a team of volunteers, has built a huge tower of straw bales on the Pieter Vreedeplein in Tilburg. For eight days they worked on the structure of 13,000 kilos of straw and steel. The result is an oasis of peace and the smell of straw makes you feel like you’re in the countryside. It was a tough job, according to Van der Horst: “But let’s not talk too much about the agony of the artist.”
A nice place to escape to in the center of Tilburg. A huge rack of bales of straw. The sound of the city disappears and when you take a deep breath, you imagine yourself in the countryside. ‘Civil’ is one of the eye-catchers at the Cape Town art festival.
The round work of straw contrasts with the angular square, surrounded by dark buildings and that is precisely the intention: “A soft object in this hard environment”, artist Robbert van der Horst summarizes.
“For me it is a temple, a place of rest.”
Van der Horst and his volunteers worked on the structure for eight days. They lifted about 13,000 kilos of straw and steel. “We hung in harnesses and lifted a bale with one hand. Can’t do it in that heat. This square doubles the heat.”
Van der Horst enters his work of art via a staircase. The echoing sound of city traffic immediately disappears through the thick wall of straw. Standing in the high round scaffolding you will be surprised by the silence. “I wanted that too,” responds Van der Horst. “For me it is a kind of temple, a resting place where you can clear your head. The straw gives you the smell of the land.”
Curious visitors walk in from time to time. A father with his daughter. He feels the straw wall, takes it in his hand: “Extraordinary. A very alienating building. You step out of the parking garage and in the middle of the city you will find a sort of hay barn.”
“They put shame green on it.”
With his work, Van der Horst wants people to look at the square and the city in a different way. “Look up there,” he points to the flat on the square. “You will just live there. You probably have a beautiful view, but it is one big black wall.” And about the green plants that hang over the balcony: “They stuck shame green on it.”
Civil is one of 28 artworks and performances on Cape Town this weekend. Street performers move through the center and interact with the visitors. Anja Reinhardt, artistic director of Cape Town, expects a lot from the Domino Race: seven dancers who fall over. “They set off a chain reaction.”
On Sunday, visitors can make part of a portrait of Vincent van Gogh themselves. They paint a panel of 40 by 40 centimetres. At the end of the day, the 144 canvases are placed together to form a gigantic portrait of Van Gogh.
Learn more about Cape Town can be found here.
