"Welcome Islamic State" sign taken off Philips building

The electronic text display on the Lichttoren in Eindhoven that caused such an uproar on the internet yesterday, turns out to be an art project by Dries Verhoven. It was placed on the roof of the tower for the STRP Biennial. Due to all the commotion, the art project will be seen at the STRP with customized text, Dichtbij reports.

Some found the lines of projected text, such as "farewell state of Israel" and "welcome Islamic State" so objectionable, that reports of it ended up with the National Coordinator of Counter-terrorism in The Hague.

"It's a poem that says goodbye and welcome in an almost classic Shakespearean manner, written especially for the city", Angelique Spanniks, STRP director, explained to the newspaper. "The poem is a snapshot in time when you realize what is happening, you welcome the new things in the world and says goodbye to the old things." According to Spanniks, the fact that the poem was so misread and misunderstood, says something about how predominate the sensitivity and anxiety is in today's society. "Because apparently people read 'welcome Islamic State' and thought: the Islamic State is coming."

Yesterday was a test run for the art project and the project can be viewed through a telescope in the Klokgebouw again tomorrow. This art project by Dries Verhoeven, called "Fare thee well", has traveled all over the world and arrived in Eindhoven from Canada. "The phrase "welcome to Islamic State" has been displayed in various city and has never offended anyone. Now it is in Eindhoven and there is suddenly a fuss abut it, that's very strange.