Kunsthal Rotterdam

Last year, the term ‘social security’ seemed to be buzzing across the country and became the central theme of the Dutch 2023 general elections. In Rotterdam, the poorest city of the Netherlands, it is an urgent topic as well, with 15.4% of Rotterdammers living below the poverty line. Due to the rising costs of living, an increasing number of Rotterdammers can no longer afford basic needs like food, clothing, housing, and healthcare. Furthermore, around 50,000 Rotterdammers are struggling with debt. The number of entries for becoming a 2024 city artist proves that the theme is very much alive in the city. Not only did we receive more applications than ever, it also turned out that the majority of the artist had a personal connection with the subject, for instance because they had grown up in poverty, or been homeless themselves.

Ainine

Ainine (1959) is a self-taught artist who has first-hand experience with social insecurity. For years he had to live/survive on the streets. As a city artist he captured the situation of people who are unable to join mainstream contemporary society because they lack the means, housing, or necessary papers. This summer, Ainine ventured into the centre of Rotterdam to make photographs of his friends while they were sleeping under a bridge or looking for plastic bottles and empty cans. Using a Bic ballpoint pen he turned these photographs into realistic, detailed drawings.

Sioe Jeng Tsao

The work of the artist Sioe Jeng Tsao (1991) consists of colourful paintings and illustrations. As a child of parents who owned their own business, Sioe Jeng is very much aware of the challenges of being an entrepreneur. As a city artist they interviewed a number of Rotterdam entrepreneurs, including Aziz Yagoub, the owner of the pop podium Annabel. Despite the prevailing poverty and insecurity in Rotterdam, these entrepreneurs are showing their perseverance, creativity, and solidarity with the city. Sioe Jeng has captured these Rotterdammers in colourful, digital portraits that are accompanied by excerpts from interviews the visitors can listen to in the exhibition

Tânia Alexandra Cardoso

Tânia Alexandra Cardoso (1985) is an illustrator and visual storyteller. For her work as a city artist she combined cartoon drawings, personal experiences, and artistic research with the aim of highlighting the contrast between the resilience of the city and the social insecurity of its residents. Inspired by the Rotterdam motto ‘Stronger through struggle’, she created vibrant water colour and pencil drawings that zoom in on both Rotterdam’s civic pride and the daily challenges many Rotterdammers are faced with. With her illustrations and stories she visualises invisible social patterns and offers hope for the future.

Take-A-Way Collective

Since 2022, Take-A-Way Collective has been bringing residents of the Rotterdam Tarwewijk neighbourhood together for coffee, stories, and creative sessions during which people from a wide variety of backgrounds jointly make products. The proceeds from selling these products are used to help people in need. The collective offers a safe space for sharing vulnerabilities, thus providing a unique insight into living and surviving in Rotterdam. For their work as city artists Take-Way-Collective has jointly created drawings that combine various personal experiences of social insecurity. The collective’s work is based on the stories they have been gathering all over the city while cycling around with their coffee cart.

Rotterdam city artists

Even before the bombing of 14 May 1940, but especially during the post-war reconstruction period, city artists have been capturing the changes in the city. Until the end of the 1980s, the Rotterdam City Archives annually commissioned artists to make these drawings. Since 2018 this tradition was reinstated in collaboration with CBK Rotterdam, and city artists are now once again adding to the collection of the Rotterdam City Archives. This year, the city artists were selected by a jury consisting of the artist Pris Roos, Cindy Stegeman, Ove Lucas (CBK Rotterdam), Jantje Steenhuis and Wanda Waanders (Rotterdam City Archives), Thamar Kemperman (Paulus Church), and David Snels (Kunsthal curator). Once the exhibition has ended, the city artists’ drawings will be included in the City Archives collection and become part of the Rotterdam Collection.