“Island off” – Wieringen mourning attire as contemporary photographic art

Wieringen Photo Biennial 2024

In 2024, Rem van den Bosch presented an evocative new series during the Wieringen Photo Biennial: Eiland af (Island's End).
A contemporary re-creation of the traditional Wieringen mourning attire, captured on the island itself, in the landscape where this attire once gained meaning.

Mourning as form and meaning

The mourning attire of Wieringen was originally an exceptional sight. The wearer was almost completely hidden from view by a cape-like form, intended to shield grief, literally and figuratively, from the outside world. It was an attire of silence, seclusion, and interiority.

For Eiland af, Rem created a modern reinterpretation of this attire. The form and meaning remained leading, but the execution underwent a radical intervention: the mourning attire was made in signal red.

Confrontation and attention

This color choice causes an initial shock. Red is visible, present, inescapable. Where traditional mourning disappears into darkness, this attire demands attention. That is no coincidence.
The images confront, but also draw you in. Precisely there arises the tension Rem seeks: between shielding and visibility, between tradition and contemporary meaning.

Anyone who unexpectedly encounters the series, on the street, in an exhibition, or in publications, stops. The images don't let go. They demand time and a second look.

Photographed on Wieringen

The series was photographed on Wieringen itself, in the spring. The island is not a backdrop, but an essential part of the story. Landscape, wind, and space reinforce the charged silence of the images.

Eiland af is therefore not a nostalgic retrospective, but a contemporary reflection on heritage, grief, and identity. The work shows how traditional costumes can still say something today, especially when re-examined and questioned.

Available as artwork

The series Eiland af is part of the collection and can also be found in the shop. Among other works, this series stands out for its intensity and radical simplicity. It is work not intended to please, but to move.

As grief also does.