Commissioned by: BFO – Niek van Der Sprong producties,. Location – pavement City canal -Zwolle. Period: 2010 –
The Delft blue wall tile was the inspiration for the art project Met Voeten Getreden (Trampled By Foot). The idea was to replace the familiar tile with a paving stone and to replace the motto with short sayings or quotes from around the world. Proverbs and proverbs often turn out to cross language and cultural areas. They are often seen as general wisdom and translated understandable to almost everyone. Quotes and exciting unusual designs by 65 artists. 800 decorated pavement tiles decorated the route along the city canal, the star of Zwolle. This under the motto, A paving stone gets in no one’s hair.
Zwolle residents could adopt an art tile themselves, which was done by many individuals as well as companies and institutions.
Unfortunately, the route proved not to stand the test of time.
The tiles were supposed to have a lifespan of 10 years but turned out to be much more vulnerable in practice, under the influence of moisture and road salt, among other things. This resulted in some criticism afterwards, but what remains is the beautiful connection that was made between art and the residents of Zwolle, the street poetry that could literally be walked under foot and the beautiful thoughts of freedom. The images that ended up on the paving stones were subsequently read by many people while walking along the beautiful Zwolse Stadsgracht.
A total of 50 Overijssel/ Zwolle artists and 15 Overijssel/ Zwolle prominent figures were asked to contribute to this project.
Freedom Worldwide was the 5 May theme 2010, the tile project consisting of 65 designs on the size of a pavement tile, tied in with this theme. It also celebrated the 65th year after the liberation.
The artworks were recorded in a publication with an edition of 2,500.
