In Goes, a city on the South-Beveland peninsula, Zeeland, The Netherlands, a 32-metre-high (105 feet) mural with the theme of the 1953 North Sea flood can recently be seen on the 'Weidezicht' ('Meadow View') apartment building.

The mural is called 'Drijfkracht' (Buoyancy).

The artwork is part of a national project in which twenty Dutch museums have had murals made by artists.

In this context, the Watersnoodmuseum (Flood Museum) asked the, from Goes coming, artist Stefan Thelen (aka 'Super-A') to participate in this project. He was happy to carry out the assignment because he himself has family members who experienced the flood disaster.

The painting shows a woman in the traditional South-Beveland costume and a girl, both on a jetty with wildly splashing water.

They refer to the flood disaster. The people depicted are namely Stefan's great-aunt Riet and Stefan's daughter. The story of Stefan's great-aunt Riet is reflected on one of the walls of the apartment building. She had to flee from the water as a 16-year-old in 1953. She left a plant (a clivia) on the dining table. After weeks of evacuation, she was allowed to return home. To her amazement, her plant was in full bloom, it was lying among all the devastation and had survived the flood disaster. For Stefan, the flower symbolizes resilience and hope.

Last year, the Flood Museum focused on '70 years back and 70 years forward'. The great-aunt and Stefan's daughter are therefore also on the mural as a symbol for 70 years back and for the future.

PS: to me the mural is a touching one, as my late parents, a late younger brother of mine and I had to flee (in the very cold February midnight hours) from the quick rising water as well. Although I was a young boy then (born in 1945), I still can remember the disaster as if it was a fortnight ago.