Tegen alle stromen in

Tegen alle stromen in is a bronze sculpture in Amsterdam by Rini Hurkmans, commemorating crime journalist Peter R. de Vries. Two hands and forearms touch in gestures of support, help, invitation, and protection. Green-blue surfaces alter the view as you circle them, since the form has no fixed front or back. It rests directly on the ground without a pedestal.

The idea followed de Vries’s death, while his family wanted values and legacy rather than a portrait. Five artists submitted separate designs for the memorial. A committee including his family, city officials, and area designers selected Hurkmans’s concept. Michelangelo’s Pietà shaped the position of the arms. An island in a busy square places it among meeting pedestrians, with the television studio where de Vries appeared also visible. Its outer surfaces carry a passage from his farewell letter to his children. The passage appears in Amsterdam’s forty most spoken languages and in braille. Specially sized braille lets visitors discover those words by touch.