Joost van den Toorn A HISTORY DISREGARDED The city is a story; one that is recounted, written, kept secret, rewritten and adapted to the circumstances. Idealized, in other words. And so it went with the story of Middelburg's patron saint Norbert; a story which has pushed the obscure history of another of Middelburg's citizens into disregard. Thus a city can also be a fafade in words. Joost van den Toorn's contribution to Fafade 2012 is a statue that intends to retouch Middelburg's history. In his own words: 'I would like to bring truth back to the monastery around which Middel burg was built.' That monastery is the present-day abbey founded in 1127 by The Norbertines (canons regular). Behind the triumphant story of the Order's founder, Norbert, resides an altogether different story, seemingly erased from memory. It is the tale of one of the great heretics of Dutch history, Tanchelm, also known as Tachelijn. Dressed in rags, he strongly criticized the wealth and power of the Roman Catholic church, and had an enormous following in Zeeland and Flan ders. He was born near Middelburg and settled in Antwerp, where he was killed by a priest in 1115. In 1124, Norbert was instructed by the Vatican to put an end to Tanchelm's ideas and followers. This explains Norbert's common depiction in iconography as the triumphant conqueror of the heretic; standing over Tanchelm, monstrance in hand, in reference to the Eucharist. In Van den Toom's work Norbert's image stands high on a tower, modeled after Middelburg's coat of arms. In con trast, at the foot of the tower, we see the head of the suppressed Tanchelm. In doing so, Van den Toorn restores this heretic to his place in Middelburg's history, thus cor recting the official version of the story. Religion, war, and death are regular ly recurring themes in Van den Toorn's work. He approaches these themes with intuition rather than rationale, and eschews explanations based on historical accounts according to the ruling classes and those in power. Van den Toom pre fers to watch from the sidelines, enabling him to speak freely. His work breathes earnestness and humor, imagination and irony. He aims to present us with an unconventional mirror, with which to reflect a different view of Middelburg's history. Various versions of the statue, stand ing on pedestals perched on the magiste rial buildings of Middelburg - such as the Abdij, the City Hall and the Vleeshal - tell the story that was disregarded. A dark story, in contrast with the grandeur, the faith and justice of which Middelburg's architecture would like to bear testimony. Thus the authentic story, a less palpable historical reality, returns to Middelburg devoid of the noble embellishments nec essary when setting a Saint's life as an example. www.joostvandentoorn.nl 80

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Zeeuws Tijdschrift | 2012 | | pagina 78