Blue babies (protesting pensioners) by the Russian artist Gluklya, seen at the Museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo.
I came across this work in the Museum van Bommel van Dam. It is Blue babies (protesting pensioners) by the Russian artist Gluklya.
At first, it looks like a simple painted piece of cloth showing a group of elderly people. But look a little closer, and the scene becomes stranger: the pensioners are holding soft bundles with small, blue faces—like fragile, improvised “babies.”
In this work, Gluklya turns a real event into something quiet but unsettling. The figures represent pensioners who protested against the closure of a small park in their neighbourhood. It was not a dramatic uprising, just a local action—but it mattered. The park was saved.
The image adds another layer to that story. The blue-faced “babies” suggest vulnerability—cold, neglect, something that needs care. By placing them in the arms of elderly people, the work gently shifts perspective. Those often seen as belonging to the past are here shown as carriers of something that still needs protection.
What begins as a small protest opens into a larger reflection. These figures are not only defending a park; they are claiming their place in society. In many cities, older people are everywhere, yet often overlooked. Here, they insist on being seen.
Once you know this, the cloth reads differently. What first feels fragile becomes deliberate. And the quiet presence of these protesters turns into a form of resistance that is hard to ignore.
