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11 Sep - 9 Mar

‘Pillars of life’ by artist Lizan Freijsen in Groote Museum

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The exhibition ‘Pillars of life’ can be seen in ARTIS-Groote Museum. The exhibition is based on a design for a new hand-tufted rug by the late artist Lizan Freijsen (1960-2024).

Her latest work is an ode to invisible trees, which support the city of Amsterdam like piles and thus lifted it out of the swamp. Lizan Freijsen died completely unexpectedly in February this year. After her death, the TextielMuseum, where her artwork was in the making, and ARTIS-Groote Museum decided together with her family to continue the planned exhibition. A modest exhibition with a big story.

Visualizing invisible beauty
Tufting specialist Karen Zeedijk of the TextielLab, with whom Freijsen has often collaborated, picked up the thread again. With the necessary ingredients she was able to complete the rug in Lizan’s spirit. “A soft place of attention,” is how Freijsen described her new work of art for ARTIS-Groote Museum. Freijsen was fascinated by a cross-section of a wooden foundation pile exhibited in the museum, which supported the museum for more than 160 years.

Turning something invisible into valuable products was her way of showing what is present. By enlarging a modest phenomenon and translating it into wool, the subject can be viewed with a different focus. With ‘Pillars of Life’ Freijsen also focuses on a blind spot and visualizes its beauty. How this process took place can be seen in the introductory film in the exhibition, made by Marieke van der Lippe. 

Freijsen said about the purpose of ‘Pillars of Life’: ‘If you make this visible, you show that the relationships in life, which is also what the Groote Museum is all about for me, require a completely different layout. It also requires a different place for people and I often miss attention to plants.’ 
In this interview for the ARTIS magazine, a month before Freijsen died, you can read more about her vision of the exhibition she was going to create.

Pillars of life, ARTIS Groote Museum, until March 9, 2025, Plantage Middenlaan 41