GoArtists Nanjing

Goartist invites artists from outside China for commercial creative projects in Chinese malls.
26th of April to 11th of May, Nanjing, China, Dutch Festival with Wim Vonk.

May Nanjing 2017:

I will never forget the event of this weeks: children painting tulips outside the mall with Wim vonk and on clogs with me inside the mall with in the back Johnny Jordaan and Dorus: “er zitten twee motten in mijn oude jas” and surrounded by the high buildings of the new China.

My work is always been about questioning identity. In that light I also look at the concept of nations that seem to work more against people than to open up opportunities.

Working with clogs here fits me. To work with these national symbols in our own country would present a different meaning than here in China. To work f.e. with Delft Blue in China would also be different. At first I have to decorate wooden shoes in public. It is funny to paint in this traditional way without exactly knowing how.

It seems different to look at Dutch cultural symbols most of all because it is organised by a Chinese artist, who chose the Dutch cultural parts that are useful. The projects of GoArtist are mainly commercial but also educational. For instance there is a setup of the house of Anne Frank and at the back a cafe known for dragqueens to visit. You can actually read the Anne Frank diary in Chinese here in the mall sitting in front of a print of the house.

The wooden shoes may not be as radical as those I made for ‘Kwasiafrikani’.. but in their sweetness tell about a lost time. Even more in China where the culture is much older than in Europe.

https://www.marjavanputten.nl/clogs/