By John Dunkelgrün.
On the last day of January the museum BEELDEN AAN ZEE opened a major retrospective of the (literally) fabulous Curaçao artist Yubi Kirindongo. After an ear shaking parade by a real Junkanoo band, the museum director, Professor Jan Teeuwisse and two experts on Kirindongo introduced the artist and his work. The exposition was then formally opened by the Minister Plenipoteniary of Curaçao, Ms Marvelyne F. Wiels.
Yubi Kirindongo Works with recycled materials, mainly old car bumpers. Of these he makes sculpture that at times seems to be abstract at first, but very quickly clear figures emerge. His subject is freedom. Freedom from convention, freedom from subjection, the freedom to live and develop to the limit of one’s ability. He is a paradigm of the Carribean black culture, full of irreverent humor. One of the people introducing his work called his workshop and sculprture garden “the worlds most poetic scrap yard”.
Kirindongo is almost a work of art himself. He radiates warmth humor and a zest for life. He was formally initiated as a Voodoo priest and had he exposition opened by the ritual slaughter, no not of a goat or a chicken, but a chocolate sculpture.
This definitely is a “not to miss” exposition.
