For twenty years already, HipHopHuis has been the Rotterdam location for arts and culture within the hip-hop community. Next to dance and DJ lessons and events, it spreads cultural knowledge with collaborations like exhibitions in Kunsthal. ‘Staying Power. Hiphophuis invites Lakwena’ starts September 24.
Following earlier collaborations, including the successful exhibition Street Dreams, these two Rotterdam-based cultural tastemakers reconnect on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the
HipHopHuis and the 30th anniversary of the Kunsthal.
The artist Lakwena Maciver has been invited to create new work as part of her series Jump
Paintings. From this autumn, this series of abstract portraits – inspired by world-famous
basketball players – are on display in hal 3. The artworks pay tribute to the most inspiring basketball players from past and present, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and James Harden.
Bold graphics and profound messages
For the abstract portraits, Lakwena uses the layout of a basketball court as a canvas on which she
symbolically represents the players in kaleidoscopic patterns and neon colours. She takes the physical characteristics of the basketball players as her starting point: each painting is the same height as the player. Bold graphics and profound messages characteirze Lakwena’s work. In her Jump Paintings she uses texts relating to the players and references to themes like decolonisation, redemption, and paradise.
“Lakwena’s graphic-design imagery, neon colours and powerful and hopeful texts give us
something to hold on to during a period when society is forced to reinvent itself after a
pandemic. Her work ties in with our anniversary theme ‘Staying Power’ which focuses on
how we, as individuals and as a community, can stay physically and mentally fit in this
constantly changing world. For the HipHopHuis this is an excellent moment to invite Lakwena
and ask her to create a new work for her Jump Paintings series,” says Aruna Vermeulen, director of HipHopHuis.
Photo: Lakwena Maciver by Andy Rain
