Ro Heilbron Surinamese hut (1980)

At the end of the 1970s, a number of Rotterdam artists had had enough of the drabness of the city and took action with lots of color. Artists were commissioned by the Rotterdam Art Foundation (RKS) to create large, colorful paintings in public spaces. During this project, titled Town painting, in 1980 one of the commissions went to the Surinamese artist Ro Heilbron. He painted a painting of a Surinamese hut on one of the many Hofboogs under the train tracks. The turf hut is largely painted in shades of brown, but the windows, door and the area above it are painted in colorful patterns in yellow, red, blue, white and black. There is a basket and two vases against the hut. In the background you can also see something of a landscape in brown. To the left of this mural, Heilbron made a second work, Vrouwen (1980). During Keti Koti in 2015, BKOR paid special attention to Heilbron, who died in 2014, with an exhibition of his work in the windows of various shops on the West-Kruiskade and with an accompanying route map Tribute to an art worker (2015). In 2023, both paintings were thoroughly restored by Bruce Tsai-Meu-Chong of design agency Opperclaes. Opperclaes launched the project in the context of 150 years of colonial and slavery history Ro!Heilbron!, with the aim of honoring and preserving Heilbron's legacy.