Gulf of Guinea

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Date: 30 November, 1991 – 30 November, 1994
Location: various locations in The Hague

A group of ten artists from The Hague were invited to submit proposals for public art, with the expectation that they would be inspired by The Hague as a collection of meaningful places connected to individual or collective histories, events, or emotions. To prepare, a series of round-table discussions was organized with all participants and external experts. Jean van Wijk, a member of the working group, supervised the project.

With proposals by:

Dirk de Herder and Adriaan Nette – 63 x Stop 'Horizon' (1993)
At 63 stops of tram lines 3 and 9, rectangular signs were placed within a red-and-white checkered frame. In the upper half of each frame, there was a photo from Dirk de Herder’s archive showing a historic (and now lost) image of The Hague. The lower half contained a transparent glass plate with the word "Horizon" sandblasted in 63 different languages, from Frisian to Chinese.

Leontine Lieffering – Fencing as a Memory Aid (1993)
In a steel frame shaped like a dome, Lieffering integrated classical architectural elements. On the embedded glass panels, she screen-printed photographs of archetypal city imagery, intended to trigger personal memories in viewers. She drew inspiration from classical mnemonic techniques, which imagined memory as a house with characteristic rooms.

Arnold Mosselman – Souvenirs of Lust (1993)
Covered in large amounts of custard and yogurt, Mosselman had himself photographed in grotesque erotic poses. These were then made into 75 different porcelain photo-postcards, which were placed in the bushes of the Scheveningse Bos, a meeting spot for gay men. His original intention was for them to be taken as souvenirs, but this led to increasing conflict.

Maria Neefjes – Retracing the Coal Route (1993)
Neefjes marked 15 spots along the former route that coal barges followed through The Hague from Laakhaven to the GEB power station until 1967. She hung enamel signs on the quays with handwritten ship names and route numbers, and added archival photos at the bridges.

Ossip – Archaeology of Daily Life (1993–1995)
In the hall of the former Hague city hall—once home to the civil registry and population records—Ossip installed glass display cases. These still lifes featured worn-out objects from the households of generations of The Hague residents.

Margit Rijnaard – Individual City Maps (1993–1995)
At five locations in The Hague tied to personal memories, Rijnaard installed custom-made city maps. Between two glass plates, she placed a grid-like drawing of her own alongside an aerial photo of The Hague, in which the respective "memory zone" was subtly blurred.

Marjan Schoenmakers – Under the Trees (1993)
In an ad in local district newspapers, Schoenmakers invited residents who had a special connection with trees or extensive knowledge about them. She held conversations with them under trees. Her aim: to sit and talk under a tree. She designed a “tree mirror” to look up into the canopy and compiled a book based on these encounters.

Marcel Zalme – Family Chronicle in Light Images (1995)
Zalme traced his family history in The Hague back to 1763 and turned it into a route through the city center. At seven locations connected to the family chronicle, he installed lanterns with magical-looking shades containing drawings and texts about a different episode at each stop. Inside each shade was a rotating perforated screen that made water glimmer and fire flicker.

Unrealized proposals by Rien Monshouwer and Loek Nieuw.