{"id":165792,"date":"2024-03-27T12:01:26","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T11:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=165792"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:15","slug":"unity-artwork-at-erasmus-mc-allows-scars-slowly-to-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2024\/03\/27\/unity-artwork-at-erasmus-mc-allows-scars-slowly-to-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Unity\u2019 artwork at Erasmus MC allows scars slowly to heal"},"content":{"rendered":"

A work of art was officially presented at Erasmus MC\u2019s Education Centre on Monday. The aim of the work is slowly to heal the \u2018scar\u2019 in the room: the major fire and water damage caused by Fouad L.\u2019s attack on 28 September, in which lecturer Jurgen Damen was killed.<\/p>\n

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Pauline Tio delivers a speech during the presentation, with the artwork in the background. <\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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Artist Nazif Lopulissa.<\/span><\/p>

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Rotterdam-based artist Nazif Lopulissa is the creator of the artwork, called \u2018Unity\u2019, which has been on display at the Education Centre for several months. Erasmus MC asked him to add \u2018something that radiates resilience and togetherness\u2019 to the white partition. The work consists of three layers: large grey flowers, gradient paintings over them and, at the bottom, three frames of traditional Indonesian ikat textiles.<\/p>\n

The flowers, growing towards the light, symbolise the growth that medical students experience as human beings. Forty-four paintings show different skin colours, reflecting the inclusiveness of health care.<\/p>\n

Connection<\/h2>

\u201cIt started as a simple partition, but grew into a symbol of recovery and connection\u201d, Pauline Tio, PhD student and member of the art committee, said during the presentation. \u201cThe work reminds us that we are all human with the same desires and dreams, regardless of our external differences.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Frederique Verbeek of faculty association MFVR, then emphasised that the Education Centre really is a second home for students. \u201cWe all spend so much time here. We study here, we have a job at Erasmus MC and we find our friends or even our life partners here. Especially for first-year students, it must have been incredibly difficult to experience the attack when they barely even knew their way around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Beautiful, cool place\u2019<\/h2>
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Vice-dean Maarten Frens.<\/span><\/p>

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Vice-dean Maarten Frens then talked about the great scars in the minds and hearts of students and staff, the most visible manifestation being the burn in the centre. \u201cThat painful memory is what caused our home to no longer become our home, as articulated in Noor-Willemijn de Wijs\u2019 poem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frens always loved coming to the Education Centre, to work quietly while sitting on the chesterfield sofas. Now he loves to do this even more, he said in his speech. \u201cWhat you see happening here is exactly what we\u2019re doing this all for\u201d, he said, referring to the students around him. \u201cDespite the major wounds, teaching continues, and most students and lecturers are here just like before. Nazif\u2019s artwork reminds me every time just how extraordinary the everyday is here. What a beautiful, cool place this is. No one will take that away from us. Ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until the summer holidays<\/h2>

\u2018Unity\u2019 is likely to stay put until the summer holidays, after which the floors and roof will be repaired further. Parts of the work will be reused and hung elsewhere at Erasmus MC.<\/p>\n\n\t

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Read more<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t