True street art: from the street to the studio (Antwerp)
Alicio Tassisto has a tattooed tear under his left eye. He spent two years of his life at the Groenplaats, was a street fighter. But he tells a lot about the dozens of works of art that he made over the three years and that hang in the large hall on the first floor of the Kamiano homeless center. The longest – five months – he worked on painting a mannequin, each organ a different color. Alicio points to the hundreds of tiny gold dots on her left arm. “This shows how focused I was. That goal calmed me down. And that rust made fumes.”
Maud Aguirre Y Otegui is beaming next to him. Alicio’s story is very recognizable for the Antwerp illustrator. She has been volunteering for Kamiano for eight years. Three years ago, for the homeless center’s 25th anniversary, she created a piece of art on a tile wall. Around that time, the idea also developed, following the example of Villa Voortman in Ghent, an art studio for psychiatric patients, to give guests the opportunity to express themselves artistically.
Every Monday afternoon, after the hot meal that the homeless can get here, the studio opens. Everyone is welcome. “Sometimes a lot of participants show up, sometimes a few”, says Maud. “It’s unpredictable. In the beginning we think we are working around themes, with assignments. But we quickly dropped that idea. Our guests already have so much to do. That’s why we let them be free in their expression.”
An hour and a half on the road
Laurens Vanhove liked to draw a lot as a child. But today he has no money for decent equipment. He will get that with Kamiano. In the exhibition you can see portraits and trees of him. “Seeing others also gives me inspiration myself,” he says with his West Flemish accent.
Laurens is currently admitted to psychiatry in Boechout. But he always continues to come to Kamiano every Monday. “Even if it takes me an hour and a half to get here on foot, I don’t want to miss the studio. We also built a nice bond here. Sometimes I go for a walk with Maud and Pien or drink a lemonade. We have also been to the Action together.”
A year ago Pien Reijers and Inge Stegman help Maud. Pien says: “You can immediately see how he feels from drawings that Laurens makes. A while ago he was in love and it happened to you very quickly. For us, his work is also a manual for entering into a conversation with him.”
Pascale Bemelmans, Kamiano’s coordinator and driving force, completes this: “Those who are weak, have a hard time finding their place in society. Try participating if you are always being pushed away. It is when you dissolve into nothingness. Art is a way for them to make visible again.”
Immediately exhibited
And it can go fast. Bart Schouppe came to the studio for the first time for a few moments, made a first painting and it is immediately displayed for weeks. We see people without a face, without an identity. Instead of their heads, he painted only yellow and red areas. “There is only one bright spot in my painting,” says Bart. “See that white spot? That’s Maud’s head.” He laughs and Maud, recognizable with her snow-white haircut, beams.
Bart was a self-employed person in the nightlife who collapsed during the corona crisis. “Too much fun, bad counselors and administrative carelessness and you’ll soon be where I am now,” he says. “I had to get used to the fact that I suddenly had that time to fill in. I don’t want to sit at the Groenplaats all day. I read a lot, but this studio is an ideal change. And I take the time to kiss my shit up. I am looking for a job in the service industry. As an experience expert against will and I will certainly contribute my part.”
Everyone is welcome to view the works of the homeless artists this weekend. Between 12 and 17 h and next week also by appointment. “The works are for sale,” says Pascale. “The money does not go to the artists, but to Kamiano’s operation. In this way we give them the feeling that they contribute to the bigger picture, to this community.”
Alicio is ambitious. It has a logo and a signature: T13B. The T stands for his family name, the B for Belgium, 13 is his lucky number. “I also want to use it for my own fashion collection in the future,” he says. “Hopefully a few gallerists will come to see our expo. I would love to see our art in a gallery.”