5 remarkable pieces of modern public art in The Hague

Trained at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, Jan Snoeck is known for his abstract and monumental ceramic sculptures. Zieken te bed behind the Westeinde hospital, is a terrific example: laying down or sitting up, ten colourful patients occupy as many light blue beds.

Post a picture of this lonely church on top of a mound and your followers will think you are in Tirol. However, this church stands on top of a covered garbage dump. The mound and church are a work of art by Laurens Kolks and Dennis Lohuis. It’s a fine example of optical illusion since the church is teeny-weeny and the mound only 11 metres high.

Opposite The Hague School of Applied Sciences, the New York based Vito Acconci & Studio created a slightly tilted park that seems to have broken off its surroundings. Together they look like pieces of a puzzle, with water of the Laakhaven running in between.

At first, it might feel a bit weird to lie down on the stone bench in the middle of a large artificial crater in the dunes of Kijkduin. But once you observe how the sky becomes a vault, you get this magically serene feeling. The effect is most noticeable on clear days. This public art work is created by the American artist James Turrell, the artist of light and space.

Since the nineties 40 oval pedestals in the shopping district near the city hall have carried as many sculptures by present-day Dutch or Netherlands-based artists. Every now and then, the movable sculptures trade places or are replaced by new additions keeping passers-by fresh and current on Dutch contemporary art.