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Unique ArtEZ art education project at the start of Giro

Photograph: Carien Poissonnier
Photograph: the painting of the asphalt by Carien Poissonnier

The Giro d’Italia started in Arnhem on 7 May at 12.30, right in front of the famous Rietveld building located beside the Rhine and part of ArtEZ University of the Arts. Students of the ArtEZ degree programmes Creative Writing and Graphic Design used the opportunity to ensure that not only sports but also the arts were literally “in the picture”. On the Onderlangs road, texts by ArtEZ students were painted on the asphalt: “Attack Together, Finish Alone” across a 500-metre stretch. The fences lining the race track were also inundated in texts. Gerrie Elfrink, councillor of the Municipality of Arnhem helped to paint the texts on the asphalt. Even the roof of the Rietveld building was adorned with the text “Art is the Mother of Resistance” in large lettering (12 x 25 metres) so it was easy to spot from a helicopter vantage point. And at the start of the Giro, an airplane flew by with a publicity banner reading “ArtEZ intends for you to see this.”

Anticipating the outside world
The aim of this art education project by ArtEZ is to teach students to work together in multidisciplinary cooperation (writers with designers), to use art to anticipate events in the outside world (such as was the case at the Giro) and enable them to reflect on the different reactions and effects.