07 September 2024 until 09 February 2025

Navid Nuur - When Doubt Turns into Destiny

From 7 September 2024, the Oude Kerk presents a new large-scale context-specific exhibition by Navid Nuur.

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Oude Kerk Navid Nuur 9336 LR Natascha Libbert 2
001 OUDE KERK INTERIEUR MEI 2018 PH GJ van ROOIJ
004 OUDE KERK INTERIEUR MEI 2018 PH GJ van ROOIJ
Oude Kerk Navid Nuur 9366 LR Natascha Libbert
007 OUDE KERK INTERIEUR MEI 2018 PH GJ van ROOIJ
Oude Kerk Navid Nuur 9461 LR Natascha Libbert 2

Navid Nuur is leaving a message in the Oude Kerk for people living a hundred years from now: only in 2125, a time span of a hundred years, will all the vases have left the church and When Doubt Turns into Destiny be completed.

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In the Oude Kerk, Nuur peels off the dynamics of time into physical experiences that deal with earth, water, air, smell, form and touch.

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When Doubt turns into Destiny

A large bellows blows air, a suspended transparent cloth refracts sunlight, a pile of pebbles shrinks. Nuur invites us to experience the Oude Kerk sensorially, reflecting on man's being in the world. When Doubt Turns into Destiny exudes the idea that man, despite all his knowledge and skill, is a transient being, not existing for much longer than he does.

2125

An important part of the exhibition does not come to an end until 2125. Over the months, Nuur models a series of a hundred vases in the Oude Kerk. The clay for this he grinds with soil and grit from all parts of the city of Amsterdam. The vases will be stored in the IJzeren Kapel, the city's vault from 1515 to 1892. Each year, a vase is given to a recipient in exchange of a (financial) compensation. Navid Nuur is leaving a message in the Oude Kerk for people living a hundred years from now: only in 2125, a time span of a hundred years, all the vases will have left the church, and it will be the moment When Doubt Turns into Destiny is completed.