Willem Boshoff

Willem Boshoff calls himself a language artist. He has an intense interest in the meaning of words in different languages and consequently a great love for dictionaries and encyclopedic collections. He gives shape to his ‘language collections’ in monumental sculptures and with wood, sand, granite or plastic. The social problems of South Africa always resonate in these, as well as the richness of cultural diversity. The work that Boshoff has made for Sonsbeek 2008 is an example of this. It is called Windwoorde.

Boshoff got the idea for it when he was walking in Sonsbeek Park and heard the wind in the leaves. The wind, he says, is in a continuous state of movement and change and needs trees and buildings in order to be heard. In exactly the same way, our ideas need the forms of language in order to be able to circulate. Boshoff searched in languages from all the world’s continents for words for wind that have several meanings, such as breath and spirit. He chose six: LUMUYA, CHELIDONIAS, VÃYU, ZONDA, WAGNARK and MANA, giving them the form of a large leaf. The words are applied onto the leaves with pieces of plastic by women of the BaPedi/Venda people in the north of South Africa. The multicolored leaves hang amongst the trees near the semi-circular bench in front of the Grote Vijver (Large Lake). Lying on the ground in front of the bench, like an open book, are two granite slabs with the Dutch translation.

Windwoorde was carried during the Procession by the Guild of Religious Communities.