Vlissingen Wind Organ

About

Raphael August Opstaele had a plan in 1975 to create an art installation that would stretch all along the Atlantic coast. The Belgian artist imagined wind organs from West Africa up to the North Pole made of bamboo that would symbolize the interconnectedness of African influences beyond the continent. His plan did not make it much further than his home, as this lone wind organ is the only one he ever completed for this project. The pipes were originally made of bamboo from Cameroon, but the Atlantic Ocean played the wind organ too powerfully and broke the original art installation in 1976 during a strong storm, only one year after completion. The wind organ was rebuilt and sits atop a bunker from World War II on the beach in Vlissingen. From this vantage point, visitors can listen to the whistling of the Atlantic and appreciate the symbolism of artwork replacing relics of war.