Saint George and the dragon - Vloethemveld Zedelgem

Just after World War II, from 1944 to 1946, about 100,000 prisoners of war stayed in the Vloethemveld. The camp was not a labor camp but a transit camp where the prisoners came and went. To pass the time, they made works of art from demolition material.

Three works of art have been conserved: Saint George and the Dragon, Marianne and the POW-camp plaque. They have been brought together under one canopy at the Kamphuis reception building, so that they can be viewed well and are protected against frost, rain and other weather conditions.

The cement sculpture Saint George and the Dragon is the most striking work of art. Saint George, a knight on horseback, decked out in armor and helmet, goes into battle with a reclining dragon with a spear. The whole is a semi-elevated relief of painted cement and iron reinforcement (chicken wire, nails, spear) on a brick wall. On the back is a painted cement sculpture. The sculpture consists of a sloping landscape with two houses and a few solitary trees.

Willem Vandenameele