GABRI VIVE - FLORENCE
GABRI VIVE
A GROUP OF FRIENDS FROM THE ISOLOTTO NEIGHBOURHOOD IN FLORENCE GET TOGETHER WITH UNITED PAINTING AND THE AMAZING ANNA TARATIEL TO TRANSFORM A ENTIRE SQUARE IN THEIR COMMUNITY INTO A GIANT MEMORIAL FOR THEIR LOST FRIEND
Earlier in 2020 we were approached by the municipality of Florence to realise a new community artwork. Contacts had already been made during our academy event in 2019 at The Student Hotel. In the meantime, there has also been a collaboration with the University of Florence, so that the city has become a well-known paintground for us with a growing network. Because of Covid-19, the trip had to be postponed, but as soon as it was able to proceed, the team traveled to Florence.
The artwork had to be painted on a square in the middle of the Isolotto neighborhood (the fourth quarter) of Florence: Pista Pattinaggio. All in close collaboration with local residents and with local organisation Cepiss. The square measured approximately 400m2; Isolotto is a neighbourhood where many second generation migrants live, from the south of Italy as well as from Macedonia and Albania.
For this project we decided to collaborate with Spanish artist Anna Taratiel. The starting point was a participation process in which both design and implementation would be tackled together with the local residents. This time it was extra sensitive, because of a tragic accident of a young local resident. On July 8, 2019, 15-year-old Gabriele “Gabri” Vadalà was killed in a scooter accident near the square. This event caused enormous grief in the entire neighbourhood. Gabri’s loss had sparked something in the community and it was decided that an artwork on the square would be dedicated to him.
Friends and family asked whether the design could be submitted to them in advance. The concept of United Painting, however, is to create this together during a workshop on site, prior to the actual painting. This caused complex communication in the preliminary phase, not only because of the distance and the language barrier, but also because it was a delicate subject. It was made clear that whatever the design would be, Gabri’s father’s tattoo should be incorporated, as would certain colors related to Gabri and words like “famiglia Q4”.
The first day, we talked a lot with everybody involved, mostly with the youngsters. Ana meanwhile collected all the input she heard and made a proposal for a design on the spot that was presented in the evening during a design workshop organised for all the people involved in the painting. After the presentation, a lively discussion arose. In the end, it was decided to adjust the color palette: the colors of his hometown Palermo had to return, just like those of his favorite football club Napoli, his home Florence and the Isolotto district. At the heart of the design, Gabri’s father’s tattoo is represented.
On the last morning Ana suggested leaving the last part of the artwork entirely to the youngsters to finish. On return, the artwork was completely finished. With great dedication, Gabri’s friends had turned the square into a beautiful artwork. It was an emotional day for everyone involved to see the end result, the tribute for their beloved friend and a community artwork with an extra dimension.
A lot of involvement was shown throughout the process; people from all levels of the municipality visited the square during the week. The artwork, the story and how it came about made it to several local newspapers. The square was officially inaugurated on July 8, 2020
RECYCLE ART: OUR 'DAM CARPET' PROJECT REPAINTED TO SERVE AS GIANT BANNER FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER DEMO AT THE NELSON MANDELA PARK IN AMSTERDAM
RECYCLE ART
OUR 'DAM CARPET' PROJECT REPAINTED TO SERVE AS GIANT BANNER FOR BLACK LIVES MATTER DEMO AT THE NELSON MANDELA PARK IN AMSTERDAM
Originally a season’s greetings, a friendly statement for an inclusive city. Handmade by old and new Amsterdammers between Christmas and New Year’s, and celebrated on Dam Square. Less than three months later the city, the country, the world closed down. Fast forward another three months: once again we gathered at Dam Square. Peaceful, but in protest. At the black lives matter protest in the Nelson Mandelapark, the carpet received an extra layer in many senses. Truly a magic carpet.
Originally a season’s greetings, a friendly statement for an inclusive city. Handmade by old and new Amsterdammers between Christmas and New Year’s, and celebrated on Dam Square. Less than three months later the city, the country, the world closed down. Fast forward another three months: once again we gathered at Dam Square. Peaceful, but in protest. At the black lives matter protest in the Nelson Mandelapark, the carpet received an extra layer in many senses. Truly a magic carpet.
WE ARE HERE: HOW A HUNDRED TOTE BAGS HELP GIVE A FACE TO THE UNSEEN
WE ARE HERE
HOW A HUNDRED TOTE BAGS HELP GIVE A FACE TO THE UNSEEN
Over the last few months, we’ve spent more time at our studio and started working on our own merchandise line of one-off customised and hand-painted United Painting gear. More of this at our shop! This experimenting with tote bags and left-over paint and stencils taught us a lot about customising all kind of products.
The book ‘De Goede Immigrant’ is the dutch version of the American book ‘The Good Immigrant’, which is a collection of essays by first and second-generation immigrants, exploring what it’s like to be othered in a divided American society. We felt that these bags should also have a story and should represent what the book stands for. Therefore we choose to work together with the Mandela Kids, to tell their story and to have them earn something by making these tote bags.
So when the ladies from the Dipsaus podcast asked us whether we knew someone that could help them make over a 100 tote bags with an image of the book cover on it, we decided to help them out with our newly learned expertise and our friends over at ‘We Are Here’. Instead of having all the bags silkscreened at a silkscreen studio, we suggested to paint the bags by hand together with the Mandela Kids. The Mandela Kids are undocumented youngsters that are closely connected with ‘We Are Here’ and currently have their shelter at the ‘Ceuvel’ in the north of Amsterdam.
interview
A BEAUTIFUL MESS: THE PROJECT OFFERING NEWCOMERS TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OPENS A NEW RESTAURANT IN ARNHEM AND GETS A PAINT JOB
A BEAUTIFUL MESS
PROJECT OFFERING NEWCOMERS TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT OPENS A NEW RESTAURANT IN ARNHEM AND GETS A PAINT JOB
After painting at A Beautiful Mess in Amsterdam, we were contacted again by the Refugee Company who were planning to open another A Beautiful Mess restaurant in Arnhem. They felt that our designs have become synonymous with the Beautiful Mess identity, and so once again they asked us to paint their restaurant. The centrepiece of this new venture was the bar and so it was of the utmost importance that our design reflected this.
Although this was relatively small in relation to our other projects, it was still a two-day job which was quite time-consuming with regards to the planning and execution. We went with just two crew members and were helped by inhabitants of refugee centres close to Arnhem. We made a rough design for the bar beforehand but the idea was to complete it on-site with the help of the participants. We prefer to work in this way as it helps to bring a sense of ownership and solidarity to the team and the project. This never fails to ignite enthusiasm with the crew members as, in their own words, life can be tedious in the refugee centres as everything is strictly regulated, from food to money to even how one spends their free time.
This was a fantastic project that delivered exactly what A Beautiful Mess wanted, i.e. for United Painting to bring their unique style to their new restaurant and also it really succeeded from our point of view; we created something we are proud of and we brought people together to create art.
BIJLMERBAJES BEACH CLUB - COURTYARD OF A SOON TO OPEN BEACH CLUB LOCATED IN A FORMER PRISON AND RUN BY NEWCOMERS GETS A PAINTJOB
BIJLMERBAJES BEACH CLUB
COURTYARD OF A SOON TO OPEN BEACH CLUB LOCATED IN A FORMER PRISON AND RUN BY NEWCOMERS GETS A PAINTJOB
The Bijlmerbajes, a former prison in the south east of Amsterdam, was used as a refugee center from 2016 until 2018. During this period United Painting, in collaboration with Refugee Painting, were responsible for colourfully decorating large parts of the outside of the building as well as ‘A Beautiful Mess’; the restaurant inside. This allowed for a design continuity that flows throughout the building, both inside and out.
In 2021 the building complex will close for good. With this in mind the restaurant rebranded themselves and also turned the courtyard outside into a beach. They asked United Painting to return and create some new work that was both keeping up with the summer feeling they were trying to create, but also needed to have a connection to the already existing work.
For this part of the project we re-connected with some of the participants from previous projects such as the refugee centers in Heerhugowaard and Geuzenveld in Amsterdam. This not only helped with the team spirit (many participants had previously worked together) but it also ensured that we had an experienced and motivated team which enabled us to work efficiently.
The initial idea was to paint the entire courtyard that surrounds the beach but the sand was delivered earlier than expected so we were unable to work as of course, paint and sand don’t mix. So, we had to reevaluate our plans. We decided to focus instead on the entrance hallway which in itself is no small feat in regards to size. The result was a brightly painted tunnel using our signature patterns and with arrows marking out a clear 1.5 meter walkway for both entering and exiting the complex.