OH!boken

OH!boken, a work by Gert Robijns, was inaugurated on 23 May 2025 next to the Kruger Bridge in Hoboken. This artwork, commissioned by the Antwerp public art collection, is part of the project Voorbij het centrum (Beyond the Centre), which establishes new permanent artworks in Antwerp’s districts. 

The artwork consists of a tall pole with several coloured rings, one of which hovers high in the air. This floating ring functions as a lens, a moon or a sun, and adds a landmark to the surroundings. The location near the Kruger Bridge was chosen because it lies at the crossroads of various landscapes: the Portugezenhoek residential area, the Hobokense Polder nature reserve, the Blue Gate business park, the Scheldt River, the railway line and the city skyline. Robijns describes how, on his first visit to the bridge, he felt as if he were floating above these landscapes, with the sky as the only element connecting all directions and sightlines. The title playfully evokes the sense of surprise one experiences when the artwork appears in the sky, combined with the pronunciation of the district’s name in the local dialect. 

Gert Robijns (b. 1972) lives and works in Borgloon. His oeuvre includes sculptures, videos and architectural installations, with a focus on the creation of places and the experience of inhabiting them. He deconstructs landscapes and the everyday, reshaping them in unexpected, playful or disorienting ways.