Student Mart Veldhuis sold his graduation project, a mega tapestry called ‘Eigen schuld’ for 45,879.40 euros, exactly the amount of his study debt.
Veldhuis came up with the idea during his studies to make a tapestry with illustrations about the loan system, because he was stressed about his study debt (45,879.40 euros of debt) and so he sold his tapestry for exactly that amount. Eigen Schuld is about the anxiety and stress in the lives of students who were under the loan system.
The tapestry tells the story of the “fight against the loan system”. Large black government lions chasing smaller students running away symbolise the loan system. Since 2015, many students in the Netherlands but also in the United States, for example, have been deeply in debt because of that system.
Three buyers were seriously interested in the tapestry. but Veldhuis chose art dealers Joke van Veen and Jaap Versteegh, because they will let the tapestry hang in the Dordrechts Museum and make it publicly accessible.
