Eerste slag : Michiel de Ruyter Vijfje before 2007

Martijn Engelbregt made this coin, ‘Eerste slag : Michiel de Ruyter Vijfje’, a small, silver disc, a tiny feat of focused mark-making. The incised lines radiating from the center, the portraits facing opposite directions, all those tiny perfect letters… I can imagine Engelbregt bent over the metal, his hand moving with a steady pressure to create this little world. I wonder what it's like to create something that fits in the palm of your hand? It's so different to the vast canvases I'm used to. This coin is functional, a piece of currency, but it also celebrates figures of Dutch history. I like the relationship between the Queen Beatrix on one side and Michiel de Ruyter on the other. It reminds me that art is not created in isolation. We are all in conversation with each other. This little coin shares ideas and values. It’s like a drawing, a physical inscription that carries meaning and memory, a place for multiple readings.