Giny Vos
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Portal to Safety
Portal to Safety

I was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to create a memorial in honour of Jan Zwartendijk.

In September last year, I presented my design titled Portal to Safety, during the awarding of the Medal for Acts of Humanity in gold by Prime Minister Mark Rutte to Edith and Rob Zwartendijk, the daughter and son of Jan Zwartendijk. Jan Zwartendijk helped thousands of Jews escape from Lithuania in 1940 by issuing them false visas. In 2018, I created a Monument for Jan Zwartendijk in Kaunas, Lithuania

In the design, I turned the temporary consulate, the building in Kaunas where fake visas were issued, into a symbol. The building is made up of vertical, transparent strips of diachronic glass. The diachronic glass changes colour, depending on where you stand. The memorial will be placed in the entrance hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague on 23 May 2024. The place where people go to get their identity papers.

Realisation in collaboration with Joshua Pettiti, Daichi Fuwa, Saki Nishisaka, Ektor Ntourako and Van Luijn Natuursteen.