Imagine a figure rising from the earth itself. That’s Mama Aisa. She is also known as Moeder Aarde. This artwork stands here in Amsterdam-Zuidoost.
Around 1986, the city had the idea to complete this new district. As the crowning achievement, the festival Blij met de Bijlmer held a contest. The goal was to create art referencing the Creole community. Chaim Oren, an Austrian, won. He wanted to represent Mother Earth who carries all cultures.
The project cost 10,000 guilders. There was feedback from the community. Influenced by a local medicine man the sculptor modified the statue. It became similar to the Surinamese M’m Aisa from the Winti religion. Some wanted a black statue. The artist disagreed. The head lacks ears. Oren explained Mother Earth does not need ears to manage everything. To show the link between heaven and earth, he included the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor using spheres.
Mama Aisa stands on an island. Bridge 1141 connects it to the mainland. The statue is four meters tall. It depicts a strong woman in a white dress. Brightly colored spheres decorate the dress. These spheres are also scattered around the area. A dark hand rests in her lap. The other hand is hidden. A dark face emerges from the dress. One eye is open, the other closed. Oren meant this to show Mother Earth sometimes overlooks problems. She certainly does not reveal everything.
After the Bijlmer disaster in 1992, the statue faced problems. Some residents saw an evil eye in the figure. They wanted to burn it seeing it as a blasphemous idol. This feeling grew when they learned the artist was Israeli and the crashed plane belonged to El Al. Mama Aisa barely survived this controversy. Burning the statue would have been difficult. It is mostly concrete with a concrete foundation.
It took years for the envisioned unity to occur. Parts of the district had to be demolished. Originally, the surrounding water was called Grubbezee. Over the years, it was renamed Cola-kreek after the Surinamese Colakreek.
Mama Aisa, situated on an island in the Cola-kreek represents the universal goddess. The spheres on her dress symbolize celestial bodies like Ursa Major and Minor. They highlight the connection between heaven and earth. Her right eye is open. Her left eye is closed. She winks as if keeping a secret. This is M’Aisa/Moeder Aarde.