In 2020, after a lot of commotion in the press, the statue of a figurine named a 'gaper'

(literally: a yawner) was removed from the front of a drugstore in Amsterdam. Now a new yawner is being installed. A yawner 2.0, adapted to a new era.

A yawner is a traditional statuette of an exotic man of medicine sticking out its tongue, with a big pill on it. It was from the seventeenth century on used to advertise the trustworthiness of medication sold at the spot. As such, the figurines were to display the exoticness of the wares, and could be of Arabs, Russians, Africans, but also figures in military attire.

The yawner over the front of an Amsterdam drugstore in the Herenstraat, depicting a black man of medicine, caught the attention of Dutch influencer Sylvia Witteman, who immediately linked it to slavery and racism. Although Witteman retracted her tweet afterwards, and confirmed the stauette had nothing to do with racism and slavery, the harm was done. The owner of the building had the yawner removed.

"Understandable", says Harry Piet, the owner of drugstore Het Heertje. "Although the yawner serves as a trustworthy emblem for medication sales, this should never be a cause for polarisation. It is sad we had to remove the statuette, but I do not regard it as buckling under pressure: we adjusted ourselves to the mood of the time. And we can still easily explain it has nothing to do with racism or slavery. On the other hand: we have removed part of a tradition from Amsterdam, s has happened with countless other wall paintings and classical retail signage that once represented the commercial activity in the city."

Gift to Amsterdam

On his own initiative, artist Adriaan Rees decided to design a yawner that corresponds with to the mood of the time.

"I was born at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, and during my childhood the yawners in my surroundings were fascinating, mysterious statuettes. I couldn't understand why they looked so strange and exotic. Now, I decided to offer the drug store to make a new yawner. To me the yawner is a gift to the city of Amsterdam, where I was born and where I still live and work. Rather than losing the heritage, I want to give it a new impulse. This statuette should be a motivator for more yawners and other traditional signs in the city to be made by current artists."

Fantasy portrait

Rees built a fantasy portrait from a base of fragments, with an androgyous look in blue, yellow and green. The head dress consists of a series of big tongues, with all kinds of elements like white pills, goldcoloured snakes, silver balls and numerous objects that are sold in a drugstore. The shoulders are adourned with silver balls and objects like tubes, a shaving brush, lipstick, deodorant and a jar of cream. The statue also received a colourful bow tie, referring to drugstore 'Het Heertje' (the Gentleman). Of course this yawner has a big pill in gold on its tongue.

"The statue is named 'Oh Johnny'", says Rees, "after the folk singer Johnny Jordaan and Tante Leen's song about him. But it also reminded me of Johnny Rotten, the lead singer of the Sex Pistols and P.I.L." The Amsterdam Arts Fund gave a grant for the artwork.

New symbol

"The amount of character in the statuette is fascinating", says Piet. "The appearance of the statue in part represents the impotence we felt when we had to remove the statuette last year. It is a subtle protest. But it also represents the whole of drug store retail. Our retail branch has already voiced interest in having this as the new symbol for drug stores in the turbulent Dutch retail world."

14.10.2021

04.10.2021