103 cast iron drain covers with lines of poetry about love and the original function of the Diemerzeedijk, Diemerpark is full of them.
The artwork ‘The Meeting’ is located on the former landfill site Diemerzeedijk. A system of pumps, wells and drainage has been installed over the tip to keep the groundwater level low and to drain off the rainwater.
Artist Maria Barnas devised a scenario she called ‘The Meeting’. Two people are supposed to meet in the park but it doesn’t come to an encounter. The fragments of thoughts and lines of poetry form a story that is only readable when the walker starts to wander. The sentences can be read in any order.
The drain covers form the connection between the past and the polluted soil on the one hand, and the present and the paradisiacal garden that lies on top of it like a tablecloth on the other hand.
This artwork is part of the series of Sunday Sculptures that Stadscuratorium Amsterdam posts on Instagram every Sunday.
