The Heart of Consolation
door Gemeente Amsterdam
When evening falls in Amsterdam-Zuidoost, a projector lights up the facade of a tall office building with the message: hou moed dan komt alles goed; loosely translated, ‘Don’t lose heart, and everything will be all right’. It’s just one of the messages that the students of the weekend school wrote for the project Lichtpost (a play on ‘light’, ‘mail’ and ‘post’ as in structure). Call it a coincidence if you will, but 22 years and a few months ago, Heleen Terwijn founded the first weekend school in Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Centre, not far from this very building. In fact, the AMC was one of the partners that helped make Lichtpost a reality.
The idea behind this project came from Evelien Feltzer, our concept supervisor for the IMC Basis programme. Feltzer brought together artists Machteld Aardse and Femke Kempes and the school’s students, who were asked to write messages of hope or support for the project. In the Zuidoost urban district, Lichtpost is part of a larger project that also projects pieces of verse by Amsterdam poet laureate Gershwin Bonevacia.
The students wrote various messages or greetings in their own language for people who are currently unable to go outside, who are lonely or ill, or are working extremely hard in these difficult times, like doctors, nurses, firemen and police officers. The short-but-sweet messages were first shown in Amsterdam-Zuidoost and have since spread to other locations in the city, such as the staff restaurant of the OLVG West hospital, where the projection may be smaller and indoors, but is also that much closer to the people for whom the messages are intended.
by Stichting IMC Weekendschool