Ro Heilbron Women (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 eight women, from young to old, on one of the many Hofboogs under the train tracks. The women each have a different Surinamese background and are dressed in the corresponding costume or style. Heilbron painted the Surinamese flag in the background. To the right of this work the artist made a second painting, Surinamese hut (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.