2018.nl/en/underthetower
various dates and locations Friesland This project is supported by the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Marijke Muoi is supported by the Stichting FB Oranjewoud
thriller in the church under the tower Frisian churches harbour pearls of stories. Inspiring stories, age-old stories, passionate stories, or even downright thrillers. Under the Tower portrays 32 of the most beautiful of them. Director Jos Thie attended an impressive funeral ceremony in the Grote Kerk in Leeuwarden and thought: ‘This type of dramatic building must house so many stories.’ Friesland boasts as many as 770 churches. Thie gathered together a team, including the actress Tamara Schoppert and the playwright Bouke Oldenhof, and started searching. The stories poured in; they received over eighty of them. Stories about a Frisian princess, drowned friendships, a miracle doctor, battles in the Eighty Years’ War, and stories about regular people. And so Under the Tower was born. Art manifestations around churches in which artists collaborate with entire Frisian villages.
The pocket comb ‘The sexton of the Langezwaag church always carried a little comb in his pocket,’ explains Tamara Schoppert. ‘Churchgoers were allowed to comb their hair with it when they stepped off their bikes looking wind-tossed.’ A beautiful anecdote, in Schoppert’s eyes, touched as she is by the community-building nature of that one little comb. This tiny story was the source of inspiration for Haren in de wind (Hair in the Wind) a huge open-air installation near the church of Langezwaag. The villagers have created it and are very proud of it. This is how Under the Tower sees entire villages working together. ‘Music and amateur associations are very happy to help tell their story under the tower, as are village clubs, primary schools and sports clubs,’ recounts Schoppert.
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Boksum One such village that has joined hands is Boksum, a terp (a man-made hill) village with a population of about 400. Boksum suffered heavily during a battle with the Spanish in 1586. Otto Clant, the flagbearer of the spontaneously established Frisian army, took the flag under his arm and hid in the Sint Margareta church. The Spanish found him and because he refused to hand over the flag, he did not survive. This story will be told through video mapping, huge video images projected onto the church. The theatre club of Boksum, De Stringpraters, will perform De slach by Boxum (The Battle Of Boksum). The play was specially written for the occasion, and the local choir and a collective orchestra from Boksum, Deinum and Blessum will play translated battle songs. At least a quarter of Boksum’s population is involved. Mark van Houten is one of the initiators and lives in the village. ‘One of my neighbours knows all about the history of Boksum, another is an animator, and yet another is a light and sound engineer. Under the Tower brings the village together. People are flourishing; they do what they are good at. It is a really nice side-effect.’
ye ar maga zine lf2018