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"Enjoy your summer at home or elsewere!" - visit at Galerie SANAA

I have to admit that I was expecting a bit less after 3 months of lockdown. I thought everything needs more time to stand up and run again. (Well, hello Anita! It's August already!)

With these thoughts, I walked into Galerie SANAA to see what's happening now.

In the window there hangs the work of Option Dzikamai Nyahunzvi, and next to the door right at eye-hight the description of the Summer exhibition of SANAA: 

"What's happening after the lockdown? How do artists reflect on the past few months?"
YEEES! This is what I came for!

The show is a summary of last year's exhibiting artists. As I learn from Berthe Schoonman, the owner of Galerie SANAA,  most of the show's artists are foreigners living in Utrecht. And that is where my thoughts go wild. Foreign artists, living in Utrecht, reflecting on the concept of home, which is now closed and limited by COVID-19.

The works are all reactions of the latest months events from environmental changes till racism and #summervibes.

A clear line between the awaking nature and the 4 walls which keep us inside.
The industry, which is out of hands by now, and was also a hot topic earlier this year. The works of Halina Zalewska not only calling nature as inspiration but also reflects on the work of Malevich.

Staying home, which seems liberating at first glance, but from experience, we all know by now, that it can be as much a jail as a place of relaxation. A quick look at Raafat Ballan's home scenes and you know how he felt, without words. 

Have you tried to puzzle out what's going to happen next? This is the challenge in the works of Rabi Koria's. He works on tiles and then puts the work together, one by one, like all of us did in the last couple of months to find ourselves again.



After corona, there was another urging issue in the question of racism. The powerful paintings of Benine du Toit show the racial tension of her origin country. Chaos, movements, aggression, and bodies tangle in all f her works.

And then as you walk through heavy and dark topics there's Anna Frydman, with watercolor on paper, seethrough clothes, and you can basically feel that you are walking in the summery city.

So all in all: I expected a bit slower, shy exhibition. But I got fresh, powerful works instead, with a lot to say! It's really worth to walk in* and take a look at these works and gain some inspiration after such a dull period at home. 

*Exhibition is still
open until 5 September




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