For Atelier van Lieshout, freedom is not a natural state that we receive in our lap. One must want freedom, fight to conquer it and be prepared to defend it. The inhabitants of the Zwin region know this all too well. The landscape is marked by ramparts, forts and defence lines that recall the Eighty Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. In the centuries that followed, West Flemish regularly took up arms to keep out foreign domination.
Statue of Liberty is a monument to (their) fortitude and an ode to freedom-loving militancy in general. The clenched fist has a long history as a protest gesture, from the anti-fascist paramilitaries in the 1920s to the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement. Atelier Van Lieshout's fist is stylistically reminiscent of the hand of the New York Statue of Liberty, but it can also be interpreted as part of a medieval battle club. This is a 'peace club', a weapon to deter those who threaten our freedom.