Newspaper article (Gelderlander): Airborne Collection

Albert wants to get people thinking about the Battle of Arnhem: ‘Memory of the war must remain alive’

What happened in the Second World War should not be forgotten, according to artist Albert Ziëck (63), ex-footballer Ruud Knol (42) and entrepreneur Hans de Kruijf (51). Because this year marks eighty years since the Battle of Arnhem took place, they want to draw attention to the story in a contemporary way. “The memory of the war must remain alive.”

They were 17, 18 years old. According to the Renkum artist Ziëck, the young soldiers who came here to fight for our freedom had no idea where they would end up or what they would find. De Kruijf adds: “Those kinds of guys are in every war. We therefore want to get this group thinking with images.”

Knol (former Vitesse player) and De Kruijf came up with a project in which they tell the story of eighty years of Airborne using old and new techniques. They commissioned the Renkum artist to make thirty paintings about the Battle of Arnhem.

These paintings are digitized and sold as NFT – a kind of digital picture with proof of ownership. The three also had three hundred canvases made of each painting.

You can read the full article on the website of the Gelderlander (Dutch).