In the exhibition 'Signed: Rotterdam! May I Exist?' city illustrators Ainine, Sioe Jeng Tsao, Tânia Alexandra Cardoso and Take-A-Way Collective each give their own personal interpretation to the theme of (in)security of existence. Commissioned by the City Archives and CBK Rotterdam, the city illustrators got to work this summer to visualize their observations and reflections in drawings. The end result can be seen from 19 October 2024 to 16 February 2025 in the Kunsthal Rotterdam.
The word 'security of existence' seemed to be everywhere last year and became the central theme of the 2023 Second Chamber elections. It is also an urgent topic in Rotterdam, the poorest city in the Netherlands. For example, 15,4% of Rotterdam residents live below the poverty line. The rising cost of living means that more and more Rotterdam residents cannot provide for their basic needs such as food, clothing, housing and healthcare. In addition, approximately 50.000 Rotterdam residents are struggling with debts. The fact that the theme is alive in the city is evident from the number of applications for the city cartoonist position in 2024. Not only were there more applications than ever before, it also turned out that the majority of the cartoonists have experience with the subject themselves, grew up in poverty or have even been homeless.
Surviving life, Bic ballpoint pen on paper, 2024. Ainine
Ainine
Ainine (1959) is a self-taught artist and is more familiar with existential uncertainty than anyone else. For years he survived on the streets. As a city artist he portrays the situation of people who cannot participate in today's society due to a lack of means of subsistence, housing or the right papers. This summer Ainine went into the centre of Rotterdam to photograph his friends – sleeping under a bridge or looking for plastic bottles and cans. With a Bic ballpoint pen he worked out these photos into realistic, detailed drawings.
Saskia – A new beginning print of digital drawing on paper, accompanying sound, 2024. Sioe Jeng Tsao
Sioe Jeng Tsao
The work of artist Sioe Jeng Tsao (1991) consists of colorful paintings and illustrations. As a child of parents with their own business, Sioe Jeng knows the challenges that come with entrepreneurship. As a city artist, he interviews Rotterdam entrepreneurs, including Aziz Yagoub, owner of pop venue Annabel. Despite the poverty and uncertainty that prevails in Rotterdam, these entrepreneurs show perseverance, creativity and solidarity with the city. Sioe Jeng captures these Rotterdammers in colorful, digital portraits accompanied by interview fragments that you can listen to in the exhibition.
Stronger through Struggle. A series of ten drawings, wwatercolour, gouache, coloured pencil, watercolour pencil and Posca pen on paper, 2024. Tânia Alexandra Cardoso
Tânia Alexandra Cardoso
Tânia Alexandra Cardoso (1985) is an illustrator and visual storyteller. For her city drawing, she combines comic drawings, personal experiences and artistic research to show the contrast between the resilience of the city and the existential insecurity of its inhabitants. Inspired by the Rotterdam motto 'Stronger through struggle', she uses her colourful watercolour and pencil drawings to highlight both the pride in Rotterdam and the daily challenges of many Rotterdammers. With her illustrations and stories, she makes the invisible social patterns visible and offers hope for the future.
Every Time I Try to Talk, mixed media on paper, 2024. Take-A-Way Collective
Take-A-Way Collective
Since 2022, Take-A-Way Collective has been bringing together residents from the Tarwewijk for coffee, stories and creative making sessions, where people from diverse backgrounds jointly create products. The proceeds from the sale of these products benefit people in need. The collective offers a safe place where vulnerabilities can be shared, which provides a unique view of life and survival in Rotterdam. For the city drawing, Take-Way-Collective works together on various drawings, which bring together personal experiences of existential insecurity. Their work is based on the stories that the collective collects in the city while cycling with their coffee cart.
Rotterdam city draftsmen
Even before the bombing of 14 May 1940, but especially during the reconstruction, cartoonists recorded the changes in the city. Until the end of the 80s, the Rotterdam City Archives annually commissioned cartoonists. Since 2018, this tradition has been reinstated in collaboration with CBK Rotterdam, and city cartoonists continue to supplement the collection of the Rotterdam City Archives. This year, the city cartoonists were selected by a jury consisting of artist Pris Roos, Cindy Stegeman and Ove Lucas (CBK Rotterdam), Jantje Steenhuis and Wanda Waanders (Rotterdam City Archives), Thamar Kemperman (Pauluskerk) and David Snels (curator Kunsthal). After the exhibition, the drawings of the city cartoonists will be included in the collection of the City Archives and will become part of the Rotterdam Collection.
Top photo: Surviving the day, Koopgoot Bic ballpoint pen on paper, 2024. Ainine