Khaled Dawwa

As part of 80 years of Freedom, the museum Beelden aan Zee presents in 2025 the installation Voici mon cœur! (Behold my heart), 2018-2022, by the exiled Syrian artist Khaled Dawwa (Maysaf, Syria, 1985). This six-meter-long contemporary war monument from the Mucem collection takes the form of a ruined facade in a violence-stricken Damascus. Khaled Dawwa created the work from unfired clay, giving it an extra vulnerable appearance.

A contemporary perspective
The exhibition of Voici mon cœur! aligns with the broader theme of the commemorative year, where local stories and diverse perspectives are central. Like traditional war monuments, Voici mon cœur! also fulfills an educational function, serving as a means to raise awareness and stimulate dialogue about the impact of war and the importance of freedom. In this context, Dawwa’s monument bridges the past and the present. While we reflect on the liberation of the Netherlands eighty years ago, his work offers a contemporary perspective on freedom and unfreedom. It reminds us that the struggle for freedom and human dignity does not end on a historical date but is an ongoing process. The exhibition is accompanied by a documentary about the artist.  

Curator: Dick van Broekhuizen.

In response to the exhibition Voici mon cœur! curator Dick van Broekhuizen wrote an extensive dossier about Khaled Dawwa and his work. Dossier: Khaled Dawwa – Voici mon cœur!

More exhibitions in The Hague around 80 years of Freedom
In 2025, we commemorate the liberation of the Netherlands, eighty years ago. On this occasion, the Mauritshuis, the RKD, the National Monument Oranjehotel, and the museum Beelden aan Zee are collaborating, each with a special exhibition on the theme of freedom.

Currently still on view:

National Monument Oranjehotel: Freedom under pressure. Politically imprisoned, then and now
During the Second World War, the Oranjehotel, the nickname for the Scheveningen prison, functions as a political prison. Opponents of the Nazi regime are imprisoned, interrogated, and convicted here. But political imprisonment is of all times and places. All over the world, there are places that, like the Oranjehotel, symbolize the existence of lawlessness and dictatorial regimes. In the exhibition ‘Freedom under pressure. Politically imprisoned, then and now’ the museum gives an impression of a number of political prisons in the world. The exhibition puts the Oranjehotel in perspective and pays attention to the way in which the past is commemorated in former political prisons. From Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin to the headquarters of the State Police in Sao Paulo. Until December 2025. 

See here for more information: 
https://www.oranjehotel.org/nl/bezoek/te-zien/