ENSCHEDE ECLIPS, A ‘CONNECTION’ IN PUBLIC SPACE
… with more than 1000 connections. The EnschedeEclips is a sculpture for everyone in Enschede,
Twente, the Euregio & in particular for the LGBTIQ+ community.
‘An eclipse is a unique natural phenomenon. It shows us a play with shadow at a huge distance from its light-source. The shadowy ‘tension’ of an eclipse puts you, the observer, in place. It makes you small. At that unique moment you are part of nature. The EnschedeEclips is a sculpture that plays a sparkling game with this.
Enschede is a proud city in the east of the country with about 160 nationalities. It’s an international city. People with different cultures, backgrounds, sexual orientation, gender (identity), age, religion, political affiliation, social status, level of education, functional disability and areas of interest; together they make Enschede. Everybody is different. It’s the power of the difference. In Enschede you have the freedom and the right to be who you are, to do and to love whoever you want. Being yourself is our ideal. Making diversity and inclusion visible is essential. A work of art as a symbol of tolerance and acceptance. At the request of the municipality, Article 1 Overijssel held a competition among artists.
‘EnschedeEclips’ by artist Edward Janssen has become the winner. Even though a special foundation worked for almost 6 years to succeed in realizing the monument the project was canceled due to a lack of back up by the council of Enschede.
Laurens van Lier, stichting HVSDS.