ROTTERDAM.- Zadkine and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen are joining forces once again. Together with artist Nilton Moreira da Silva, college students have created an exhibition that strives to bring art and people closer together. The outcome can be seen on site at Zadkine from 16th till 30th April as well as via the Boijmans Instagram.

Together with 12 college students of Social Care and Social Work, artist and social worker Nilton Moreira da Silva has been reflecting on how art can bring people together and about the individual, of whom we must not lose sight. The outcome of these efforts is the exhibition Door het bos de bomen niet meer zien – Not seeing the trees for the forest. The installation and the process is a component of the KUNST/WERK – ‘ART/WORK’ – project, a collaboration between Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and Zadkine that aims to foster a closer affiliation between the cultural sector and vocational training colleges. The exhibition can be seen by all students from 16th till the 30th of April at Zadkine’s main location in the centre of Rotterdam, while a special online exhibition can be tracked via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Instagram page from the same date.

Students

This second edition of KUNST/WERK involved 12 students from the Social Care and Social Work courses. Under the supervision of artists and museum professionals they followed a series of masterclasses and workshops at locations such as the Boijmans ‘listening post’ in Rotterdam-South. In the process they learnt to think critically and creatively by way of their contact with art. At the same time they explored how the work of museum staff relates to their own expertise. The group investigated whether art can contribute to the sense of connection, of solidarity. Together with Nilton Moreira da Silva they worked towards a concrete vision on this subject. The students who contributed to ‘Door het bos de bomen niet meer zien’ are Cody, Abisai, Tyrell, Rick, Ismay, Ilker, Geraldina, Delyhlah, Sinem, Dariska, Ajai and Gino.

The work of art

The work of art is a forest that you can enter and bears the title door het bos de bomen niet meer zien – not seeing the trees for the forest. In the middle there are mirrors that revolve, and in the forest you hear a diversity of voices. The work’s title is an inversion of the expression door de bomen het bos niet meer zien – not seeing the forest for the trees– which means that if you pay too much attention to details (the trees), then you can no longer see a situation in its entirety (the forest). This work of art is about making sure we don’t lose sight of the individual.

This project was made possible thanks to Fonds 21’s ‘Art education for college students’ scheme.