In November 2018 Judith Geerts worked as an artist-in-residence in the house of Vincent van Gogh. In the spirit of Van Gogh she made stationery and envelopes and brought them to a refugee camp in Greece, next to Habibi.works, a makers’ space for refugees. The letters where distributed in the English class, given by Second Tree. Young girls and boys wrote about their hopes and sorrows. Fifteen letters where send back to the house of Van Gogh and will be presented in a publication, November 2019.
The letters will be shown at different places to generate attention for the publication of these stories. The writers are people who were forced to leave their war-torn country.
In the Netherlands on the 5th of May we celebrate that we live in freedom. We celebrate that in 1945 we were freed from the German occupation in Europe and the Japanese occupation in Asia. May 5 is also a day to reflect on the importance of freedom and to realize that freedom is vulnerable.
During the weekend of Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day) these letters will be shown at the Newest Art Organization, under the title: Letters of Hope and Sorrow – Exhibition of Letters. Another piece called: Kinderpardon (Defence for Children) will also be shown during this exhibition.
At Sunday 5th there will be a performance by Nasam Abboud and Yazan Maksoud, as a contribution to the exposition.
On Sunday the 5th of May there are a lot of Liberation Festivals. Here we celebrate that we are free, and we show support to those who are not. Come visit us at the opening night on Friday 3d from 7 to 9pm, and/or at Saturday 4, Sunday 5, from 12 to 6pm.
