Mayor Jozias van Aartsen.
By Roy Lie A Tjam.
Departing Mayor of The Hague Jozias van Aartsen hosted an exclusive reception to take leave of the Corps Diplomatique in The Hague on 20 February. In attendance were the ambassadors of Costa Rica, India, Chile, Georgia, Peru, Belgium, Morocco, Bolivia, Germany, Lebanon, Czech Republic, and Bosnia & Herzegovina among others, along with representatives of the international courts and institutions, and staff from the Dutch Royal Court.
For additional Hester Dijsktra’s pictures, please open the following link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157679465281980
The venue was chosen with care; Gemeente Museum The Hague, where a unique exposition of works by Piet Mondriaan and Bert van der Leck was on display.
The first to speak at the reception was Benno Tempel, director of the Gemeente Museum. He thanked Mayor van Aartsen for his unstinting support, advice and close cooperation on matters pertaining to the Gemeente Museum.
The placing of the transparent glass ceiling and the relocation of the Escher collection are tangible proof of this, he explained. Mr. Tempel and artist Omar Muni offered the Mayor a leather bag personally designed by Mr. Muni.
Ab van der Touw, CEO of Siemens Nederland, was next in line to address Mayor van Aartsen and his guests. Mr. Van der Touw, a personal friend of Mr. van Aartsen, briefly referred to the latter’s stint as Minister of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs. I know you as a person who has always been impartial, he told the Mayor.
Such an active person should and could not disappear from the scene. Mr van der Touw, in his animated presentation, included some remarks in the local vernacular (Haagenaars and Hagenezen) that was well received by the Hagenaars, Hagenezen and others in the audience.
A magnificent musical intermezzo on piano and trumpet of ‘The Prince of Denmark’s March’, performed by two students from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague, added luster to the program.
Mayor van Artsen was also congratulated by Bert Koenders, Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, who spoke on behalf of the Dutch government.
A somewhat moved Jozias van Aartsen remarked that he simply did his job, and he did it with pleasure.
Mayor van Aartsen then addressed the hundreds who had come to bid him farewell. He told the guests:
“That we should meet each other precisely at this spot is something which gives me great pleasure, and for various reasons. Because not only is this a beautiful building, but it also houses an impressive collection as Benno Tempel already noted, the biggest Mondrian collection in the world.”
“The Gemeente museum airs, in my view, the liberalism in the philosophical sense of the word, the sense of community and tolerance, in line with the thinking of the architect of this museum, Hendrik Berlage, a famous Dutch architect and urban planner. An individual who in the early decades of the twentieth century to a large degree also helped shape The Hague as a city. He was a visionary, as demonstrated by his plan for a ‘world capital’ as a place that would house international organizations.”
“The Gemeente museum narrowly escaped destruction during the Second World War when this part of The Hague was largely torn down to make way for German fortifications. There is something of an ironic symbolism in the fact that the International Zone, with its OPCW, ICTY, Europol, Eurojust, and this museum, are now all situated precisely within that area. From a city at war to a city of peace. In the period immediately after 1945, and again after the fall of the Berlin Wall, international cooperation really began to take shape, which was also reflected in the development of our international city of peace and justice.”
“It was here in The Hague, too, that the unification of Europe began in 1948 – all driven by the bitter experience of two world wars fueled by nationalism and delusions of grandeur. Never again, was the slogan of the day. A new world at peace; that was the goal. The founders of ‘De Stijl’, the centenary of which we are celebrating with this exhibition, created a new art for a new a new world. The world in which art and life would come together.”
The musical intermezzo ‘Honeysuckle Rose’ by the Brass Ensemble of the Marine Band concluded the formal part of the reception.
Guests enjoyed the ongoing exhibition entitled 100 Years of De Stijl, showcasing the largest Piet Mondriaan collection in the world, and many works of his contemporary Bart van der Leck.
