Shinkichi Tajiri, Watchman, 1996

Location: Nassauplein Den Haag

When Stroom was approached by the initiators of a plan for a commemorative monument for advice, we recommended the sculptor Tajiri who has been living and working in The Netherlands since 1956. In the years after World War Two, he made a series of warriors and fighters. With the commission from VVDM and AVNM for this monument he went back in time and was inspired to create a new series of works for the year 1996. The ‘Watchman' represents the changed perception of the army, no longer focusing on aggression, but rather on defense.

With the monument, artist Shinkichi Tajiri seeks to express the apparent contradiction between 'giving up your freedom' and 'serving and protecting freedom.' The monument, the ‘Watchman', in The Hague was erected to mark the end of conscription in 1996.