Free as a bird in Amare

August 2022, news

When walking through the hall on Amare’s ground floor, be ready to enjoy the sight of a flock of cranes in flight. This installation is on display at Kunstenplein since 24 August.

The flock of cranes appears to be heading for the exit, to find freedom. The crane is a symbol of peace and happiness in Japanese tradition. The paper birds in Amare are inscribed with poems written by young and elderly people of The Hague on the theme of war and freedom. These are the main themes in the Maduro opera about forbidden love, resistance and betrayal, in times of war and the time when the miniature city of Madurodam was created.

As free as a bird is a poetry project developed by Amare with Kwekers in de kunst, to make the themes addressed in the opera accessible to children and elderly people as well. Supervised by tutors from The Hague’s Huis van Gedichten (House of Poetry), more than 75 primary school pupils and 75 nursing home residents together made poems, inspired by the question: “What does freedom mean to you, at age 10 or age 100?"

The poems can also be read on the mural newspaper in the Danstheater lobby on the first floor.

In this project, Kwekers in de kunst worked with elderly residents of Bosch en Duin, De Thuishaven, Florence and Muzee, and with children attending the De Galvanisschool, AMG Schmidtschool and De Vuurtoren. 

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