Who is behind a living statue? On Sunday we joined Hillie Weerman, a participant in Stiefkiekn in Westerbork.
At half past ten this Sunday it is already very busy in the Meursinge conference center in Westerbork. Dozens of participants are preparing for the Stiefkiekn in the festive heart of the village. Hillie Weerman (50) from Beilen is also busy with make-up, sponges, brushes and whatnot. Experienced, she first applies a layer of black to her face, then paints a gold color on top.
Women’s suffrage
Hillie will be Aletta today. It goes like this: “In 2019 it was a hundred years ago that the Netherlands received women’s suffrage,” says Hillie. “They then asked me to depict Aletta Jacobs.” And although she herself is not so much a champion of women’s emancipation, she does enjoy depicting the Aletta from Slochteren who was the first Dutch woman to study medicine in Groningen, become a doctor and win a seat in the House of Representatives.
“I have a sign at the plinth that says who Aletta was. It’s funny: someone gave extra money once and added that Aletta was so important. And sometimes parents give their children a whole history lesson about women’s emancipation.”
It promises to be nice and warm on Sunday. Then it’s half an hour on, half an hour off for the living statues. Because of course you also have to go to the toilet as a statue. How did you come up with the idea of stepping out?
report
“Albertje Sok and I worked for the same employer a year or so ago. We really didn’t like that anymore. Then we saw a report on living statues. That’s what we’re going to do, we said.”
Albertje and Hillie threw themselves into the organization of the annual step-kikn in Westerbork. “I was on the board for a long time, but now I’m out. So now I can participate myself for the first time.” In addition, people can hire Hillie to liven up their event. “Saturday evening I was at a party of a construction company, this morning I was here again. It goes all year round. It is only quiet from January to April, but then I focus more on nursing homes.”
The reactions of the people, that’s what makes the work so much fun, she thinks. Aren’t there bad boys trying to upset her? “Oh no. At most, they try to cheat you out of the bag of change.”