Friction and Connection: #2 - And Life Is Over There - Femmy Otten

Date: Friday, 28 November 2025
Location: Downtown The Hague

Stroom Den Haag, in collaboration with the Reinwardt Academy, is organizing a series of sessions titled Friction and Connection. Conversations about Art in Public Space in which we apply the “emotion networking” method to various artworks in The Hague’s public space. Using this method, we explore the interplay of interests and emotions surrounding five specific artworks and engage in dialogue with various stakeholders. We examine how emotion networking can help map urban changes and what specific role artworks play in this process.

The focus of this meeting is on And Life Is Over There (2017) by Femmy Otten. The sculpture is part of the Sculpture Gallery in the center of The Hague. It is a highly distinctive sculpture in the city’s public space; a work of art with multiple gender characteristics and references to classical sculpture. In all its nakedness and vulnerability, Otten’s sculpture expresses universal values and can be seen as a powerful statement about freedom of thought and freedom of being.

Below is a video-impression of the session. You can view other impressions of Friction and Connection on our YouTube channel.

Are you curious about a particular discussion round and would you like to have your say about a particular work of art? Please contact Vincent de Boer at vboer@stroom.nl.

This project is being realized in collaboration with the Reinwardt Academy and with thanks to the City of The Hague.

Want to know more about outdoor art in The Hague? Click here.