With See You in The Hague art and architecture centre Stroom Den Haag presents a multifaceted narrative about the ambitions and reality of The Hague as International City of Peace and Justice. During the Nuclear Security Summit you are invited to visit the following two program items:
The Good Cause
9 March – 1 June 2014
Exhibition location: Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
An intriguing exhibition that shows inspiring and hopeful examples of interventions by architects and city planners in post-conflict areas. Can architecture and design contribute to a sustainable peace? Addressing the military, political and cultural complexity of rebuilding operations, the exhibition presents practical examples in order to distill a number of ‘key success factors’. Focusing on the many international organizations in The Hague that are active in the field of justice, peace and security, The Good Cause aims to take a next step towards changing the way peace missions are set up.
Scaffold by the American artist Sam Durant
Location of art work: President Kennedylaan 5, opposite Museon
The Hague proudly presents the sculpture Scaffold by the American artist Sam Durant. Located just along the International Zone, this monumental construction may have the appearance of a harmless viewing platform, its true meaning, however, is revealed once you climb the stairs.
Scaffold is a combination of reconstructed wooden gallows (or ‘scaffolds’ as they were once called) that were used in executions of significance throughout U.S. history, from abolitionist John Brown in 1859 to Saddam Hussein in 2006. As far as public executions are concerned the city of The Hague has a long tradition of its own. In 1619 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt was beheaded on the Binnenhof and in 1672 the brothers De Witt were publicly lynched and cut into pieces on the ‘Groene Zoodje’ (an area near the Prison Gate).
In The Hague, the hub of more than 160 organizations on peace and justice, Scaffold is activated as a platform for discussion and reflection. It fits in perfectly with a Stroom tradition of realizing major permanent and temporary artworks in The Hague’s public space, like The Celestial Vault by James Turrell, Park in the Water by Vito Acconci and Dunepark by Cyprien Gaillard.
October 2013 – October 2014
For more information on the program, go to  www.stroom.nl or www.seeyouinthehague.nl