Oud-West, Thuis Best
In the permanent collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam — ref. NG-2008-51.
A 3 × 6 metre ceramic tile tableau made for Amsterdam's Oud-West neighbourhood, where Arno Coenen lived on the Nicolaas Beetsstraat. The piece centres on William of Orange — one of the most recognisable icons in Dutch visual culture — flanked by two kickboxers photographed at Uchi-Komi, a martial arts school around the corner. Not generic fighters: specific people from the specific streets the work is about.
The border is the conceptual heart. Traditional blue Moroccan tilework — the kind found in Moroccan homes across Oud-West — is woven together with the St. Andrew's crosses from Amsterdam's coat of arms. Two ornamental traditions that had never shared a frame, sharing one. Dutch lions stand alongside both the Amsterdam and Moroccan flags. The title, "Oud-West, Thuis Best" (Oud-West, Home is Best), is a declaration: this neighbourhood, with all its frictions and layers, is home.
The work was commissioned by Paradiso's "Love in the City" programme in partnership with SKOR, the Foundation for Art and Public Space. It was acquired by the Rijksmuseum and entered the permanent collection — a neighbourhood street piece placed in the same lineage as the Golden Age civic guard portraits that hang a few rooms away. It was later included in "The History of the Netherlands in 100 Objects."
📍 Rijksmuseum, Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam
