Kunstschouw: Celebrating Diversity and Social Change through Art (2022)
Experience the Visionary World of Thó Simões at Schouwen-Duiveland's Premier Contemporary Art Route
After 2 years of Covid postponements on 10-19 June you can finally visit the Kunstschouw again at Schouwen-Duiveland (Zeeland). On invitation by the curatorial committee, OpenArtExchange will represent the Angolan street artist Thó Simões at Atelier Anna Blom, Hogeweg 90 in Burgh-Haamstede.
Thó Simões works from his base at the bustling Angolan capital city of Luanda, where he derives his inspiration from. His world is populated with ordinary people from the street, whom he considers with great warmth and compassion. He sees a world around him, which is in disenchantment in many respects. In the inability of people to deal with diversity and inclusion. In the way they interact in societies full of inequalities, conflicts and corruption, destroying their natural environment. His works show the vulnerable side of life albeit with strength and determination, worth protecting, worth a humane life in sustainable harmony with nature. His works and performances call for social transformation, embracing the otherness, embracing the environment, embracing the vulnerable part of life and celebrating its diversity. Whether it are huge wall paintings, body-painted performances, videos, photography or paintings on all kinds of surfaces, Simoes leaves his remarkably consistent urban signature, revolving around people cut back to their essential being, Saõ Paulo graffiti messages, recycling materials and a hint of ancient African symbolism. Welcome in the world of Thó Simões.
The Kunstschouw is an annual art route for contemporary art on Schouwen-Duiveland. The Kunstschouw attracts an estimated 10-15,000 visitors from the Netherlands and abroad. About 175 artists show their works at about 35 locations in about 12 villages in the west corner of the island. Every year a catalog is published in the form of a magazine that answers frequently asked questions about artists, locations, programme and opening hours.