Avantia Damberg – Hidden Heroes (2019).
In 2017, Avantia Damberg made the mural ‘Punda Wings’ in an alley in Punda. It is a painting of an enlarged pair of wings, against a background with colored plane figures. Shoppers in Punda can take pictures of themselves with the wings, which are also called angel-wings.
The mural makes the alley, Hanchi Angel Job (Middenstraat), more pleasant to walk through during the day, as in the evening it is no longer used as a public urinal. The alley is a shortcut to the Hanchi Snoa and has a clearing halfway through with murals by Garrick Marchena (Urban Angel), and students of Instituto Buena Bista.
In 2019, Avantia is back in the same alley for a new mural, the Hidden Heroes. This time she is accompanied by fellow artist Lena Davidovich from Belarus. The new murals are painted on both sides of the alley. The paintings are also placed quite high on the wall and are provided with texts relating to the characters depicted.
With the project, Avantia and Lena want to pay tribute to historical figures that they believe have made an important contribution to the emancipation and development of the country, but do not receive the attention they deserve. These are Medardo de Marchena (1899-1968), Father Brenneker (1912-1996), May Henriquez-Alvarez Correa (1915-1999), and Joceline Clemencia (1952 – 2011).
Besides in Punda, the two artists also made murals in Lagun. They made a mural on the facility services building on the beach about the history, and flora and fauna of Lagun. The mural in Lagun was unveiled on Sunday, December 1, 2019. Hidden Heroes was unveiled 4 days later during Punda Vibes, on Thursday evening, December 5, 2019.
Avantia Damberg and Lena Davidovich know each other from their training at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Avantia Damberg has been living in Curaçao since 2012 and is a multidisciplinary artist. Lena Davidovich is in Curaçao for an Artist in Residence-program and then returned to Bobruisk.
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