Open Call: Your Grenade Shell at Vleeshal

Do you have an ornamental grenade casing at home? Or perhaps you know someone who does?

Maybe it is used as an umbrella stand, ashtray or vase, made by a parent or grandparent, inherited within your family, or has a story connecting it to Zeeland. We would love to hear from you!

Vleeshal is looking for ornamental grenade shells made in Zeeland in the years following the Second World War. These objects were often engraved, hammered, painted or otherwise decorated, transforming the remains of war into objects for the home.

For the exhibition The Unburied Sounds of a Troubled Horizon by Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, we are bringing together a selection of these objects. Some carry family names, dates of liberation or small hopeful phrases. They will be shown alongside Nguyễn’s work, which draws on artillery shells from the battlefields of Vietnam and explores questions of war, memory and healing.

Do you have a casing you would like to contribute? Please email laura.malerba@vleeshal.nl by Tuesday 8 September with the subject ‘Exhibition Grenade Shell’’. Please include:

• a photo of the object
• a short description or its background
• phone number

Selected objects will be displayed at Vleeshal from 3 October to 12 December 2026.