
The pre-cut parade horse
This artwork in the Folkingestraat is the (pre-cut) parade horse by Marijke Gémessy, located in wall between Folkingestraat 23 and 25.
The building at this address used to house a butcher shop which sold horse meat. The tiles behind the horse are authentic butcher’s tiles which have simply been repainted in a different colour.
Nearby
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Galgal Hamazalot
Galgal HamazalotGroningen
It’s too easy to miss this work by Joseph Semah because it can be seen only when you look at the paving bricks. The artist created eleven bronze moon shapes in the Folkingestraat paving: a lunar cycle from full moon to new moon.MonumentMonument
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Portal
PortalGroningen
Artist Gert Sennema placed a door and a bluestone step in front of it in a blank wall, which is not very unusual in itself, but the door does not have a door handle and therefore cannot be opened.MonumentMonument
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Step
StepGroningen
‘Stap’ (Step) is the larger than life-sized and extremely stylised body of a young girl who is hardly awakened and anonymous because of her missing head, arms and hands. She is standing straight and proud. Academy teacher Peter Stut created the bluestone pedestal that is reminiscent of a catwalk. The posture and stylised representation are characteristic of the sculptures by Siepman van den Berg, who is predominantly interested in the patterns of the human body and the abstraction that results when individual features are omitted.
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Rhinestones
RhinestonesGroningen
Some things do not catch the eye until the sun shines, such as in the case of this work by Saar Oosterhof. She applied rhinestones in irregular distances from one another in the Pelsterstraat pavement. The stones only shine when they catch a ray of sun. The built-in holograms provide the stones with depth and their shape changes with every movement. Each stone was handmade by the artist from a cast mixture of resin, colour pigments and glitter. The rhinestones mark the place of a former Groningen town rampart.
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Public lavatory by Erwin Olaf
Public lavatory by Erwin OlafGroningen
When you’ve gotta go, you’ve gotta go. And what better place to answer nature’s call than in this unique urinal.MonumentMonument
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Our Blue Heart
Our Blue HeartGroningen
Ons Blauwe Hart (Our Blue Heart) is a work of art that provides access to much more art. Artist Erwin Stienstra has hidden a large number of QR codes in the patterns of the giant Dutch tile tableau. Scanning these codes with a telephone provides information about various topics concerning Groningen city centre, such as poems by city poet Stefan Nieuwenhuis in addition to portraits of Groningen residents that the OOG TV broadcasting station recorded in the Gelkingestraat; historic stories and ‘just’ a list of current places of interest. The digital work or art between the old-Dutch looking tiled wall is constantly changing because it is continuously updated with new information.
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Farsi Largo - Making Space
Farsi Largo - Making SpaceGroningen
Farsi Largo/Making Space is in plain view in the heart of the city, yet many passers-by barely notice it. That’s because it’s flying six meters above our heads.MonumentMonument
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Grote Markt monument
Grote Markt monumentGroningen
Artist Willem Valk applied tongues of fire and a crystal shape on this bronze commemorative tablet that symbolise the text on the bronze plate: ‘Toen rees uit oorlog en vuur / het helder kristal van de vrede’. (Then, from war and fire/rose the clear crystal of peace.) The text refers to the fierce battle that was involved in the liberation of the city of Groningen by the Canadian armed forces. On 13 April 1945 they entered the city, after which the disastrous battles for the Grote Markt took place. Many historic buildings went up in flames and the heart of the city was mutilated by shellfire. On Monday 16 April the Canadians surrounded and closed off the city centre and the last resistance broke.
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Public Library Floor
Public Library FloorGroningen
Artist Aryaan Harshage designed a bluestone floor decoration for the entrance of the public library. He placed two squares at the beginning and end of the access street from which various letters were cut away. The letters are mixed up on the first tile (in front of the entrance gate on the street side) and in the second tile they are neatly ordered from A to Z. The two diamond shapes are connected by two long and narrow bands, and perpendicular to these are two paths in front of the entrance toward the side of the entrance street in the direction of the wall. These lines emphasise the connection with the building’s architecture.
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Tschumi pavilion
Tschumi pavilionGroningen
The Tschumi pavilion was designed by the deconstructivist architect Bernard Tschumi and was part of an art exhibition in the ‘90s in Groningen. Five architects were invited to the city to design temporary pavilions, but this one remained standing.MonumentMonument
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Academy building sculptures
Academy building sculpturesGroningen
On 27 June 1909 the Academy Building was newly inaugurated after the building was entirely destroyed by fire in 1906. It was built according to the early seventeenth century North Netherlands Renaissance style the patrons used to refer to the period in which the university was established. Sculptor Petrus Ackermans designed five allegorical sculptures. Minerva is standing in full suit of armour on top of the Academy Building with a helmet on and carrying a spear and coat of arms. Scientia and Historia represent science and history respectively. Prudentia stands for wise policy and Mathematica for mathematics.
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Statue of Aletta Jacobs
Statue of Aletta JacobsGroningen
Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929) became known as the first woman ever to be admitted to university, and who for the rest of her life championed for women’s suffrage and world peace. In 1871 Jacobs, who was born in Sappemeer, started studying medicine at the University of Groningen. She took her doctoral degree in 1879 and started a practice in Amsterdam, where she carried out important work in the area of women’s health care and birth control. The statue was created by sculptress Theresia van der Pant and in 1988 was placed on the forecourt of the Arts Faculty.
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Bus stops
Bus stopsGroningen
Bus stops involve people waiting, which makes them a perfect location for a work of art. In the Oosterstraat a news ticker has been installed between two stainless steel columns. Instead of passenger information, texts are displayed about travelling, buses, and heart and lungs. The texts were written by author Jacques Brooijmans and most of them are poetic or philosophical. In the Oosterstraat is a transparent synthetic heart in neon light above the columns. In the Gelkingestraat, that runs parallel to the Oosterstraat, lungs are placed above the columns. The organs refer to the centre and periphery of the city. When you enter the city by bus, you first pass the red heart, a symbol for the centre and the dynamic liveliness surrounding it. When leaving the city via the Gelkingestraat, buses pass the green lungs that refer to the tranquillity and space in the suburbs.
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Bro Bro Brille
Bro Bro BrilleGroningen
When Vroom & Dreesman (V&D) opened its doors in 1958, the management of the department store presented this statue to the city of Groningen. Bro Bro Brille was created by Gunnar Westman, based on a Danish children’s song. ‘Bro Bro Brille’ means Bridge Bridge Brille, a children’s game. Westman’s sculpture has a closed shape and was made from a cylinder-shaped piece of granite from an old roller the basic shape of which can still be clearly seen. The movements the sculptures make – dancing in a circle – seems to be adapted to the shape of the material.
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Herebrug bridge
Herebrug bridgeGroningen
Until the construction of the motorway and the Emma viaduct in the 1960s the Herebrug was one of the main entrance roads to the city, which made the Herebrug (1879) an important bridge. During the liberation in April 1945 the bridge suffered immense damage, and a new one was built in 1952. It was constructed from concrete surrounded by natural stones and bricks. The Groningen coat of arms – a two-headed eagle – was incorporated into the handrail and the bridgeman’s house. In addition, artist Wladimir de Vries was asked to create a work of art for the bridge, resulting in a young woman carrying ears of corn with a lying calf at her feet. The work symbolises the alliance between the city and its surrounding area.
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