Maaseik proudly welcomes its artwork from the ‘Art on the Meuse’ project. Along the Heerenlaakplas, Belgian artist Adrien Tirtiaux has placed three church towers from the immediate vicinity. This work has been given the fitting title ‘Echoes of a landscape’.
It “echoes” the landscape in three ways:
it refers to the church towers of Maaseik, Aldeneik and Roosteren
the materials used, brick, concrete and steel, are associated with the Meuse Valley
and finally, there is the literal echo: visitors can shout or listen to the sounds of the environment through the megaphone
The spire of Aldeneik church is upside down, a nod to the historic gravel extraction that formed the Heerenlaakplas. The six-metre-high tower is cast in concrete, enriched with local gravel. An opening invites visitors to look up and experience the landscape in a new way.
The ten-metre-long tower in Maaseik lies horizontally and functions as a viewing platform, built from locally sourced Maas clay. To this end, he had bricks baked in one of the last remaining Hoffmann kilns in the country, a 19th-century round kiln that can fire continuously and is now operated by Wienerberger. Maaseik historically had a large brick industry, and this tradition remains important to this day.
The steel volume refers to the church of Roosteren and stands like a giant megaphone directed towards the Netherlands. Manufactured in Liège, it links the steel industry along the Meuse and the river's historical role as a trade route. The tower connects the two countries in a playful way. Where residents used to shout to the Netherlands from this spot, the megaphone now forms a symbolic bridge to continue that dialogue.
This eye-catching structure combines concrete, brick and steel in a way that emphasises the landscape, the industrial past and the symbolism of the towers.
Would you like to visit this work? Follow the dyke path under the Maas Bridge, towards Aldeneik. After about 500 metres, you will see the artwork on your left.
Free
