Kinderkunstbiënnale Amsterdam

This project can be an inspiration for the way they let the children make socially-engaged art and giving the art a platform in the form of a Biennale.

The Amsterdam Children’s Art Biennale is an initiative of the Rode Loper op School. They celebrate their 20-year anniversary this year, 2021, and will celebrate this by organizing a Biennale. De Rode Loper op School is an art and cultural education centre in Amsterdam. Their vision is to stimulate imagination in conjunction with creating.

“Through art you look differently at yourself and the world around you,” the organisation says on their website. The focus of the activities of De Rode Loper at School is mainly about getting acquainted with art (active and receptive), researching, deepening and developing skills during school time.

The Children’s Art Biennale is a collaboration with the Rembrandt House Museum, Muziekgebouw, Scheepvaartmuseum, Tropenmuseum. Together they try to make visible what cultural education does. They show what happens when children collaborate with artists. “Art and culture shape children, children gain new experiences and perspectives. They learn to look at themselves, each other and their environment in a different way.”

The themes of the biennale show a great diversity, which we also see in the art forms and materials. The works are all made by primary school students, including children who follow special education and children from different cultural backgrounds. The artworks are put together by adults leading the classes. Within the artworks the children give their view on social issues. These are categorized into the following five: