From March the outreach of All you can Art – the in-depth collaboration between Kunsthal Rotterdam and Instituto Bueno Bista Curaçao (IBB) – will extend beyond Rotterdam. During the project ‘Kunstness’, four All you can Art artists will take turns in visiting various locations of Reakt around the country. This organisation, which is part of the Parnassia Group, helps people with psychiatric problems and addiction backgrounds find their way through everyday life. Together with clients and remedial coaches of Reakt the artists will work on creating inspiring and extraordinary artworks. The project’s kick-off will take place at the Reakt location in Gouda. After every three months the baton is passed on to a different All you can Art artist, in Castricum, Rotterdam and The Hague, respectively.

For a number of years now, All you can Art has been working with clients of Reakt over the summer, with research being conducted into how art can play a role in connecting different people and organisations. What started emerging more and more clearly was that these encounters and the practice of creating art together can greatly contribute to increasing the self-esteem of the participants – a shared goal of All you can Art and Reakt. Both parties wanted to further develop the collaboration, as it is necessary for the artists to be, and remain, present for longer periods of time to make sure that art can become a constant factor in care institutions like Reakt. The Kunstness project is now fulfilling this desire, and for the first time the All you can Art artists will remain active in the institution for a full year.
“I am overjoyed with this wonderful initiative. Art can be so connective and beneficial because it operates on a level that is indifferent to the limitations of language or background. It concerns everyone, regardless of their psychological condition. We are very much looking forward to what this year has in store for us.” – Jurgen Verbeeck, manager at Reakt and Parnassia.
press release, 1 March 2022

Necessity
The artists David Bade and Tirzo Martha – the two founders of IBB –, Joanna Francozappata, and Gerson Kronstadt will be present at the locations for a fixed number of days a week, aiming to turn their collaborations with the clients and remedial coaches of Reakt into something wonderful. What is created or what connections are made entirely depends on how the process will develop itself. Their work is prompted by the inner necessity that is felt in a certain place. Because of this, the project is able to reach beyond the clients and their environment. With their capacity to connect, the artists will also interact with the staff and management of Reakt. The results of this intensive collaboration will be shared both halfway through the project and after the year is over.

Sustainable continuation of All you can Art
Eight years ago, Kunsthal Rotterdam and Instituto Bueno Bista initiated All you can Art: an open studio, Summer School, and exhibition all rolled into one in which literally everyone can participate. Inspiringly led by David Bade and Tirzo Martha, a team of artists works together with numerous neighbourhood initiatives, artists, students, neighbourhood residents, entrepreneurs, and social organisations. All you can Art demonstrates how art can play a connecting role in society. Its experimental character, and the attitude that art is able to take its responsibility with regard to people and society form the perfect point of departure for a search for new possibilities. After many successful summer editions, it is our goal to continue All you can Art in a sustainable way while still focusing on the project’s accessibility, mentality, and flexibility. Art Sleepover, which took place in the autumn of 2021, was a first step towards further expanding the programme. It involved a number of artworks from the collection of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands participating in ‘sleepovers’ in various Rotterdam households. In May 2022, All you can Art will first move into the Rotterdam Paulus Church for a month, while the Open Studio and the Summer School, involving many collaborations with partners in the city, will again take place at the Kunsthal over the summer. More information can be found on http://www.kunsthal.nl/allyoucanart