What’s roughly three metres tall, wouldn’t look out of place in the Sprookjesbos in the Efteling, and has created plenty of headaches for officials in one small local council?

It’s Le Canard Fabuleux, a bronze duck statue scheduled for installation in Voorhout’s Park Molentocht later this year. Despite being approved by a local arts council, a nearby resident has rallied dozens of his neighbours to wage war on the waterfowl.

They’re all dismayed by the duck. Among their concerns: it doesn’t fit in with the neighbourhood’s vibe and it’s visible from too many houses on the park’s edges. According to them, the bird is morbid and conjures up feelings of depression, loneliness, and even death.

Their opinions were shared in a letter to Teylingen’s city council last spring. While the park is technically located in the village of Voorhout, it’s been governed by officials in the larger community since they were merged in 2006.

Plans to install a new outdoor artwork in the park got underway in 2021. The municipality sent out 170 letters to residents asking for feedback and included an invite for them to join an arts council to discuss which design should be chosen.

Only three people participated.

The duck was eventually chosen by the council after being reviewed by a few additional residents last March. A few weeks later, the objections started rolling in, many of them from newer homeowners.

“A number of residents live in a new nearby neighbourhood and their houses had not been completed when the participation process started in 2021, so they were unable to participate,” communications officer Francisca van Rooij told Dutch News.

A delightful or downright depressing duck?

The duck has stars over its eyes. This could be construed to mean it’s dazed like a cartoon character who’s just been punched in the head or, worse yet, is dead. But that was never the intention.

Le Canard Fabuleux was created by two artists based in Deventer named Albert Dedden and Paul Keizer. Better known as the Space Cowboys, they’ve been constructing whimsical statues featuring animals for years. Their prior works can be found in public spaces and parks all across the Netherlands.

Dutch News contacted the Space Cowboys for their thoughts on the controversy, but had not received a response as of press time. Dedden did, however, tell Omroep West in May that both he and Keizer want to stay out of the dispute as much as possible.

No ducking this debate

“There is no arguing about taste,” local PvdA councillor Paul Witteman said. “Think of ‘Kabouter Buttplug’ in Rotterdam or the purple mushrooms in Leiden. We are not going to interfere with the choice of this statue.”

In an attempt to offset potential objections to Le Canard Fabuleux’s environmental permit, which could further delay its installation, officials and Keizer opted to meet with both the duck’s critics and advocates in June. Many of those who attended were positive about the duck, but the general consensus from opponents was that it should be ‘more cheerful.’

Regardless, the council has vowed not to interfere with the Space Cowboys’s artistic freedom and the final design will now be left up to them. If the revised duck can get through the environmental permit stage of the process without any further objections, it may still be able to land in the park by the end of the year.

“Art is a matter of taste and taste can always be argued about,” Van Rooij said. ”Art can conjure up strong emotions, but many critics often come to love a work of art later because it becomes iconic or recognisable.”