Zeeland commissioner medal for Marinus Boezem

Marinus Boezem received on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, in the Grote Kerk in Veere the Commissioner's Medal for Special Services from the hands of Zeeland's Queen's Commissioner Han Polman. Boezem receives the medal because of his pioneering work for the arts both in the Netherlands and abroad, with which he simultaneously put Zeeland on the map.

In his long career, Boezem has meant a great deal to the Dutch and international art world, Commissioner Polman told his audience in the Grote Kerk. Boezem is one of the founders of conceptual art, with which he gained international name and fame. He has been of not inconsiderable importance to the development of visual art in the Netherlands. A final test of competence is currently on display in the same Grote Kerk in Veere, where Boezem is "Church Master" this year. As the third church master in succession, he has been asked to design the nave of the church entirely to his own liking.

As director of the Zeeland Institute for Arts Education and as initiator of the interdisciplinary art festival Forum, Marinus Boezem created an innovative and vibrant place in the 1980s where all kinds of art could be experimented with. Zeeland thus became a breeding ground for innovative artists.

As an artist, Marinus Boezem has always been very important to Zeeland. For example, many of his works can be admired in Zeeland, including the famous 'Abri' at the Oosterscheldekering. Boezem also organizes the annual 'Podio del Mondo per l'Arte' in the Corn Exchange on Dam Square in Middelburg, thus providing a stage for conceptual art in public space from all over the world.

In his speech, Commissioner Polman also emphasized the importance of the work of Boezem's wife, Maria-Rosa Boezem. "You are the commercial traveler with the ideas and she the manager who contributed to bringing your ideas and art into the limelight. So in presenting this special award to you, I want to honor not only your efforts and merits for Zeeland society, but also those of your wife Maria-Rosa."

More info here.

Publication date: 2 Feb '24