Sad, angry, combative. All emotions are going through the head of Jolanda Vlaminckx from Boxtel since she heard that a meter-sized statue that draws attention to depression and suicide among young people will not come to Den Bosch next month. Jolanda lost her daughter to suicide two years ago. She would have liked to go to the statue with her children and her mother to commemorate the death of her daughter.
The statue of 2.5 meters high and 4 meters long travels through various cities, including Breda and Oosterhout. A boy or a girl in a bright yellow raincoat sits dejectedly bent over with his head between his knees.
“The first overview stated that the artwork ‘Silent Struggle’ would come to Den Bosch in November. I wanted to go there to end a difficult period. Once alone and once with the family. But suddenly Den Bosch disappeared from the list and it became Arnhem,” says Jolanda.
Incomprehensible, she thinks. “Apparently the municipality has not granted a permit. We can go to other locations such as Limburg, but that is twice as far. And next year the artwork will be in Oosterhout. But that is also a 40 kilometer drive.”
Artist Saskia Stolz does not want to say much more about it. “I also don’t know anymore why permission was not given. Another date in the future would be considered, but that is now the case our planning already fully booked until October next year.”
According to the municipality, the artwork will be used at a different time. Then it fits in with broader actions surrounding the subject of young people’s mental health. “All kinds of actions are being taken to promote the mental well-being of young people,” says a spokesperson for the municipality. But that certainly won’t happen before October next year.
The statue previously stood in Breda: