The Asser municipal council is making 47,000 euros available for a Moluccan monument in the center of Assen. The city council unanimously supported a proposal on Thursday evening to make money available for the project.
The monument consists of three life-size steel statues, which symbolize the past, present and future of the Moluccans in the Netherlands. Moreover, the monument should be a tribute to the first generation of Moluccan residents of Assen, more than 70 years after the first Moluccans arrived in the Netherlands.
The initiative for the monument comes from Baru21, an initiative group of Moluccan residents of Assen. The monument gets a modern touch: passers-by can scan the corresponding QR code with their phone for more information about Moluccan history. We also work with so-called augmented reality . In addition, Baru21 plans to create a lesson plan with which they want to encourage schools to teach about Moluccan history in the Netherlands.
‘It’s about time’
The work of art must cost 52,000 euros, of which 47,000 euros will come from a municipal fund for visual arts. The allocation of that amount received support from the entire municipal council on Thursday evening.
“It was about time,” said Luc Rengers (Assen Centraal) about the arrival of the monument. Ria Haan (GroenLinks) responded with a ‘resounding yes’ to the proposal. Kees Boonzajer (City Party PLOP) said he was ‘proud’ of the support that there would be from the Asser Moluccan community.
It is still unknown where the artwork will be located. Baru21 prefers a prominent location in the center where there is a lot of traffic. Seven locations were examined, of which the stairs for De Nieuwe Kolk emerged as the most ideal location. According to councilor Bert Jan ten Oever (City Party PLOP), discussions are now underway with co-owners of De Nieuwe Kolk and the Association of Owners of the apartment complex.