The 118 chairs in the Oude Kerk date from 1948, the coronation year of Queen Juliana. For years, they have served the city's residents to marry and mourn, celebrate and lament. Artist and designer Sara Vrugt has breathed new life into these chairs through an art project with active input from the public: food for thought.
From February to June 2013, visitors to the Oude Kerk could join in with the embroidery or attend various lectures. And whoever adopted a chair was allowed to come to the church on his or her birthday to eat cake on their own decorated chair. The old upholstery was replaced with a new fabric. The design for the new fabric was based on stories collected from people in the neighbourhood: myths, anecdotes and personal stories that are connected to the Oude Kerk, the Red Light District or the city. These histories have been transformed by poet Anna Enquist into one short story of 118 words. For each chair, Sara Vrugt created a separate textile design, each incorporating a word and an image from the story. The designs were woven into the new upholstery of the chairs, which together tell the complete story.
