‘BlowUp Jubilee’ Celebrates Inflatable Public Art in the Center of The Hague

While the Dutch city of The Hague may be best known for the judicial arm of the United Nations, there’s a lot more to it than global peace and justice organizations. It’s home to some of Europe’s most esteemed art museums, such as the Mauritshuis, where you can visit Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Then there’s the immanently popular Madurodam, a sprawling scale model of some of The Netherlands’ most famous and historic palaces and public buildings. That, in turn, is located in the charming Scheveningen district, which boasts a wide, popular beach on the North Sea.

Madurodam, for one, is where you’ll find a handful of playful inflatable art installations as part of BlowUp Jubilee, an anniversary edition of The Hague’s popular BlowUp Art event. Now in its sixth year, the open-air public art exhibition curated by Mary Hessing brings together 20 pieces that interact with monuments and buildings in a celebration of heritage and access for all.

For BlowUp Jubilee, artists whose work has been shown during the past five years have been invited back. In many cases, the sculptures are in new locations or configurations. Scale, color, and form interact in surprising ways as inflatable orbs, shell-like shapes, spikes, and more reimagine a variety of landmarks.

At Madurodam, size and scale are on particularly curious display, as what appears to be a giant pink chair in the middle of a fountain is actually quite small. Other works around town, however, celebrate historic architecture with genuinely monumental creations, such as Steve Messam’s bulbous, green passageway installation or Eugenie Boon’s ode to her Caribbean heritage in a piece titled “koncha pa dilanti,” which refers to a board game played on the islands. You’ll also find a giant yellow donut by John Körmeling, a pink pavilion by Sigrid Calon, and a cosmic cafe concept by Yamuna Forzani.

BlowUp Jubilee continues through June 21. Learn more and plan your visit by checking out the event’s website. You might also enjoy Bubbletecture.

a tiny inflatable chair sculpture that looks enormous within a formal garden of a miniature city at Madurodam, The Hague — An installation at Madurodam

an inflatable, green, spiky tube installation around a sculpture in The Hague — Steve Messam

a pink inflatable pavilion with a pointy roof in a park in The Hague — Sigrid Calon

inflatable sculptures loosely resembling branches or coral in a seafoam green color, installed in a park in The Hague — Studio Meike Meijer

an orange and pink inflatable installation wedged between two buildings in The Hague

two inflatable sculptures in a park in The Hague — Foreground: Raw Color

a small spiked sculpture sits on the pointed tower roof of a model palace at the miniature tourist attraction Madurodam, The Hague — A miniature installation by Steve Messam at Madurodam

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