Paramaribo SPAN

PRESS RELEASE

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 Paramaribo SPAN – exceptional exhibition of contemporary visual art

 Close to 30 young visual artists display dynamic new and free works of art in the Paramaribo SPAN exhibition which opens at the end of this week. For this they were given a platform by De Surinaamsche Bank N.V. on the occasion of the 145th anniversary of the bank.

 The artistic freedom given to artists was used by many to explore new avenues and choose different paths. For the public this exhibition thus holds quite an unusual experience in store – instead of conventionally looking at art, Paramaribo SPAN promises to become an experience which will speak to a variety of senses.

 At the same time the exhibition also marks the end of the ArtRoPa-project, a cultural exchange program between Suriname and the Center for Visual Art Rotterdam (CBK). In this program artists from Rotterdam worked in Suriname for some time while artists from Paramaribo spent a few months working in Rotterdam.

 This is why Paramaribo SPAN includes works of art that 10 artists from Rotterdam have created in Suriname, or have created based upon inspired acquired in Suriname. The 19 Surinamese artists were selected by Trinidadian artist Christopher Cozier who was asked by CBK-director Thomas Meijer zu Schlochtern, to fulfill the role of curator for this exhibition.

 The exhibition will be on display for two weeks from the 27th of February until the 14th of March, in the former directors residence in the backyard of the head office of De Surinaamsche Bank in the Henck Arron street. Aside from the exhibition itself, there is also an interesting peripheral program with among other things four Art Conversations. The First is planned for February 27th: An Afternoon in the Garden. Several internationally renowned art experts amongst which Annie Paul from Jamaica, Courtney Martin from Los Angeles, Leon Wainwright from Great-Britain, Richard Rawlins from Trinidad and Julieta Gonzales from Puerto Rico, will be present for this event.

 The exhibition also includes a publication in which Surinamese artists, writers and international art curators write about recent visual art in Suriname and the bubbling cultural climate in Paramaribo.

Paramaribo SPAN for BLOG Jenneifer Smith

Paramaribo Span from Lusette Verboom