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3. NIEUW-HOOGHULLEN
1991, cast bronze, in two pieces, 76x94 mm (c) (not for sale)

This medal is accompanied a prize awarded once every five years by the Nieuw-Hooghullen drug-rehabilitation centre to a person or an institute providing constructive help to addicts. The centre celebrated its centenary in nineteen ninety-one.

As the medal is in two parts, it has four sides, two outside and two inside. The obverse gives the name of the centre, while the reverse shows the logo and the following legend:

not - not all those - not all those who wander - - not all those - not all those are - not all those are lost

By breaking up the sentence, by repeating the words, I also wanted to emphasise the painful process of breaking the addiction, the laborious process whereby a negative personal spiral is turned into a positive one. The slant of the letters also contributes to this process.

Both sides refer to and are related with the inner sides: between the two parts there are two interwoven spirals, one downward and the other upward. They symbolise the life of the addict. The choice between the descending or ascending spiral lies in the individual.

The text is a paraphrase of the words from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: ‘Not all those who wander are lost.’ While each of the four sides of this medal is incomplete in themselves, each needs the others for the expression of its message.