A giant stew pot floating in a lake in central The Hague is one of 24 inflatable artworks that have taken over the Dutch city for a month-long open-air exhibition. The 7-metre-tall pan sits in front of the Mauritshuis museum, home to Vermeer's 'Girl with a Pearl Earring'.
The BlowUp Jubilee exhibition features works installed in parks, on buildings and even in a train station. Curator Mary Hessing said she wanted to show the area and make art accessible to everyone. The event was initiated after the Dutch government began a major renovation of the Binnenhof complex in 2021, which includes the Mauritshuis and the Parliament building, leaving the historic 13th-century site closed to the public.
The first BlowUp exhibition in 2022 featured six artists near the Binnenhof. Subsequent events added more inflatables, but for the 2026 jubilee edition, all previous installations have returned along with new ones. Among the artists is Eugenie Boon, 21, from the former Dutch Caribbean colony of Curaçao. Her work, 'Koncha pa dilanti', depicts local life, parties, food and a board game played on the island.
British artist Steve Messam, known for large-scale inflatables, installed 'Crested' – a mass of red spikes – atop the entrance to a parking garage nestled between 100-year-old buildings. He said the piece was designed to hold its own among the surrounding architecture.
