Ditch by Nop Briex

About "Ditch"

by Nop Briex

About the artwork

Ditch near Zonnemaire - Zonnemaire (Zeeland: Sunnemere) is a Dutch village in the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland in the province of Zeeland. On January 1, 2021, the village had 755 inhabitants. Zonnemaire was an independent municipality until 1 January 1961, after which it was assigned to the municipality of Brouwershaven. Since the municipal redivision of January 1, 1997, the area is part of the municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland.

Zonnemaire is named after Sonnemare or Sunnonmeri, the water between the islands of Bommenede and Schouwen. "Sonne" means "south" or sunward, where the sun is at noon. "Mare" means water.

However, Sonne could also mean water. When people no longer understood the meaning of Sonne, Mare was added. After the northern Gouwe was dammed in 1374, this water quickly silted up, after which it was reclaimed in 1401. In the past, a lot of madder was grown in the polder.

In 1682 the constantly flooded Bommenede was finally abandoned. The majority of the inhabitants settled on the dike near Zonnemaire. This is where the village and municipality of Bommenede or Nieuw-Bommenede came into being. In 1815 the municipality of Bloois became part of Bommenede. In 1866 Nieuw-Bommenede became part of the municipality of Zonnemaire. Partly the buildings of Bommenede and Bloois are still intact, they cover the northern part of Zonnemaire. Bommenede and Bloois as village names are no longer used, however. However, the Blooisedijk and the Dijk van Bommenede are reminders of their existence.

The church was built in 1867, replacing the 15th-century church that had been demolished in 1866. Korenmolen De Korenbloem is a tower mill dating from 1873. A bust of Nobel Prize winner Pieter Zeeman, donated by Amsterdam in 1950, stands next to his birthplace.