There is something Roman about the artwork To My Beloved, created by Ingeborg Meulendijks for the Daelwijck public cemetery in Utrecht. The brickwork, the oak canopy, the pebble floor... Classic, made to stand the test of time.

Three curved walls surround an oak tree, with alcoves on the outside where you can sit and write a letter to your deceased loved one. You can leave the letter in the wall; there are various openings through which insects, mice or other animals could also crawl. On the inside of the walls, facing the tree, there is space for simple memorial plaques – name, date of birth, date of death – for the deceased who do not have their own place. We know, of course, that life is finite, fleeting. That is precisely why a permanent place to remember the dead is so important.

Meulendijks has a keen sense of the sacred. Contemplation plays an important role in her work, which is built around meticulous scale models that she carefully illuminates and photographs, as does the altered experience of time and space. When designing Aan mijn liefste (To My Beloved), she was keenly aware that people from a wide variety of cultures visit public cemeteries, each with their own symbols and rituals. The most beautiful example Meulendijks heard was a funeral with roast chicken at the grave. But no matter how differently we approach the sacred, everyone has a language – that is what makes the artwork universal. The niches where you can write are vaguely shaped like a person, present and absent at the same time. They give a feeling of security, inviting you to pour out your heart. You can also write a letter at home and send it to the cemetery. To my beloved, Floridadreef 11, 3565 AM Utrecht. The postman knows where to go.


Door Nanne op ‘t Ende, auteur publicatie Urnen Sundaymorning@ekwc 2018

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