Walking through Utrecht, you will always stumble upon something very surprising. During my search for new shops, restaurants and other secret hotspots I come across some great street art works. Two I especially want to share with you, because I think they are very inspiring.
The street art works you find in Utrecht are from local foundations looking for ways to bind the residents of Utrecht with the city and show it’s history and beauty. I’m a bit of a history lover, so I love stopping by to enjoy different kinds of art works.
Poem of Utrecht
The first street art work is the street poem of Utrecht, called ‘De letters van Utrecht’. This art work was opened a while ago. Well actually it was added to the side walk on the Oudegracht. It is subtle, so you have to look for it. The initiative came from the city poet; Ingmar Heytze. Also a member of the ‘Utrechtse Dichtersgilde’ a guild of poet’s established in Utrecht. They wanted to creat an art work that is not bound to time or generations. They were inspired by art works that put an emphasises on time, such as time capsules, clockworks and more. As well as works by philosophers and political scientists.
De letters van Utrecht is a poem that this generation will start writing and coming generations will add on to. At the time of reveling the poem was 648 characters long, these were contributed by five poet’s. Only the poet’s know the rest of the poem, which will be kept a secret. The milestones that mark the progress and growth of the poem are already set and engraved in stone on the side walk. The great thing about the letters of Utrecht is that everyone can buy a stone and therefore add a letter to the poem. Every Saturday at 13:00 a character will be added to the poem, everyone is welcome to witness this weekly event. The poem can only be added to if someone sponsors a letter. It will have your name engraved into it, so your contribution will be recognised and celebrated. This way all inhabitants of Utrecht can contribute to this lovely and inspiring art work.
You will find ‘De letters van Utrecht’ at the Oudegracht – Smeeburg 279. In front of ‘t Oude Pothuys. I won’t spoil the fun, recommend you to stop by to see and read the poem! For more information see the website: De Letters van Utrecht.
Lof der Keramiek
Another street art work you will find in the city center is ‘Lof der Keramiek’ at the corner of Springweg and Strosteeg. Just when walking trough the Strosteeg you will be surprised by the lovely images and colors of this art work. This art work was designed upon initiative of the residents of the Museumkwartier (Springweg). Lof der Keramiek is a celebration of a rich history of ceramists in Utrecht. The ceramic company Sint Lukas was located at the Strostreeg more than 100 ago. The city poet; Ingmar Heytze, his great grandfather, was the creative thinker behind Sint Lukas wrote the text that is processed in the art work.
Stop by the Strostreeg to see the art work ‘Lof der Keramiek‘ and learn more about the city.
