Nic. Tummers: Jacobs Dream

Tummers was an artist and architecture critic, who had a reputation of being an ardent advocate of socio-ruimte ('socio-space'), an interdisciplinary approach to visual art, architecture and urban planning. From the outset, his focus was fixed firmly on Heerlen, as the centre of the coalmining region. From a very early stage he argued for the preservation and redevelopment of this industry-scarred landscape, as part of the region’s cultural heritage. In the 1990s he was dedicated to preserving the Glaspaleis, the current home of SCHUNCK.

Jacobs Dream

Jacobs Dream shows how Tummers wished to make his dream come true for Heerlen at the end of the 1950s. SCHUNCK’s decision to exhibit this dream, in collaboration with Nic’s daughter Tamira Tummers, focuses on a sculptor’s dawning enthusiasm for his city. In this way, a seed is being sown for the rediscovery of Tummers’ world view, with regard to which Heerlen still has much to offer. It is an invitation to dream out loud in visual form about the city, in the hope that this ‘dreaming’ brings us one step closer to reality. A growing number of young intellectuals and artists are seemingly still inspired by Tummers’ ideas.

A variant of Tummers’ Ladder against the Moon sculpture, specifically produced for the exhibition, will be installed in SCHUNCK’s Atrium, alongside Tummers’ own sculpture, various sketches and additional documentation. Likewise, the letters on the eaves of the Atrium pay lasting homage to Tummers, honorary citizen of Heerlen and to the love between him and his life partner, sculptress Vera van Hasselt. Loosely translated, the expression ‘Les extrêmes se touchent’ means ‘extremes which come together’. 

The Atrium is accessible with a museum ticket.