Dichtregelen, te zingen door de weeskinderen bij de Onthuling van het Gedenkteeken aan den Volksgeest van 1830 en 1831, op den Dam, den 27 Augustus 1856 1856

This leaflet contains verses printed by Metzler and Basting, to be sung by orphaned children at the unveiling of a monument in 1856. The monument commemorates the “national spirit” of 1830 and 1831. These were turbulent times in the Netherlands. The country was dealing with the aftermath of the Belgian Revolution, and the social fabric of Dutch society was fractured. The choice to have orphans sing at this event brings up questions of identity and belonging. Were these children meant to represent the innocence of the nation? Or were they a reminder of the vulnerable populations most affected by political upheaval? The verses themselves speak of a unified people, free from foreign influence, with hearts ablaze for king and country. The performance asks us to consider who is included, and excluded, from the idea of the “national spirit.” It forces us to ask: Whose voices were amplified, and whose were silenced, in the making of Dutch identity? The image evokes an emotional tension between national pride and the complex realities of a society grappling with its own divisions.