The Inner Garden

There is a saying ‘Hope dies last’, but those who have had to abandon the hope of a cure frequently have to endure a gruelling period before they meet their inevitable end. ‘Time is different here, for you and for those who are near and dear,’ reads the first lines of the poem that the staff at the Regional Palliative Centre Laurens Cadenza in Rotterdam recite when bidding farewell to patients who spent their final days in their care.

The Regional Palliative Centre Laurens Cadenza provides care for people suffering from incurable illnesses, and provides advice for their relatives. The new Cadenza building was inaugurated in October 2008. Cadenza appears to fulfil an important requirement in the region and the building was already being used before it was officially opened. The space that was intended to be a silent area was hastily fitted out with the same soft furnishings as the corridors and entrance hall. SKOR was asked to help think about an art project that would transform this space into the special area it was originally intended to be.

Rini Hurkmans’ permanent installation consists of a curtain that meanders gracefully through the space like a free-hanging sculpture. The curtain can be opened and closed in a variety of different ways such that an intimate space can be created for a group meeting, a quiet conversation or as a place of retreat. Hurkmans had the windows and doors altered and designed or selected the furnishings with great care. The Inside Garden, as Rini has named the space, opens onto a garden. Moreover, the title refers to each individual’s inner world, a place of comfort and safety.

The curtain spans several metres and is a patchwork of pieces of fabric that, much like the visitors to Cadenza, come from all over the world: silk from India, Syrian brocades, Dutch cotton ‘batiks’ made for Africa, and plain textiles from Peru. Hurkmans collects textiles whenever she travels. Textiles have been used in all manner of liturgical and secular traditions for thousands of years, not least in the personal rituals that define a person’s life. A baptismal cloth, a bridal gown, a shroud, an heirloom tablecloth, a pinstripe suit, or a T-shirt that still vaguely smells like its wearer. A commemorative quilt. A flag that asks for compassion.

Creating an interface, a place of opportunity where the vulnerable inner self of people can cope better with the complex, physical and sometimes relentless world outside, is a recurring theme in Rini Hurkmans’ work. Her earlier sculptural works frequently include cocoons and components that she calls ‘asylums’. Besides the cultural connotations, the universal physical nature of fabric is another important reason why she works with this material. Fabrics provide protection from the capricious forces of nature as well as from curious glances.