Rienke Enghardt is a Dutch visual artist specializing in murals, portraits, and community art. In response to the Woman, Life, Freedom protests that erupted in Iran in 2022, she developed a collection. This body of work reflects her engagement with social issues and her artistic vision. Intrigued by her artistic approach and her interest in Iran, I conducted an interview with Rienke Enghardt to explore her motivations and the significance of her work. For more information, please visit her website.
Reyhane Gholami: At what point in your life did you develop an interest in visual arts? and when did you begin practicing it?
Rienke Enghardt: I have been drawing and creating murals for as long as I can remember. I have always been influenced by street art, and at the age of 18, I attended the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where I graduated in painting and graphic art. After that, I developed my art practice, and alongside it, I have been running Hope Box, a mobile art project in which an international team of artist friends and I work unpaid on social art projects around the world, especially in post-conflict areas. It started in 1991 as a personal quest when I took the train from my hometown, Den Haag, to my father’s birthplace, Surabaya—a reverse journey to the one my dad made by sea as a young man. For this quest, I created the concept of Weather Report, in which I invite artists I meet along the way and at home to join in my travel drawings. This ongoing project has resulted in over 150 collective works of art by 200 artists from all corners of the globe. From this project and its worldwide traveling exhibition, the social art initiatives united under Hope Box emerged.
What generally inspires you to create artistic works?
I am one of these people who was born drawing and using it to reflect and to communicate. In general, my inspiration comes from life, people, empathy, curiosity, confusion, and a deeply felt concern about social injustice and environmental issues. I see the Weather Report collective artworks as an artistic quest through the field of possibilities where roads meet, split in friendship, and create a truthful and universal life story. The basic principle is that new and sharper visions arise through communication, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. The Hope Box social projects arise from the awareness of the power of art in a social, collective context to address urgent issues and to inspire and encourage everyone to bring hope.
Which external themes or subjects serve as sources of inspiration for you? To put it another way, which social and political themes are significant to you and fuel your artistic creativity?
As a young adult, I began traveling in 1991, a time when the world was on the verge of major transformation. More borders were opening, making it easier to travel to unknown places. The spread of technological innovations like the Internet accelerated this process, allowing a growing number of people to gain a broader perspective on the world. However, this view is far from comforting, as contradictions have become more pronounced, highlighting the urgent need for insight, nuance, and action.
Around that time in my mind, the Netherlands was a promising, social, and free country and Europe was also becoming more and more borderless and united. The opening of the Iron Curtain made me feel the first step towards a peaceful global community. Since that time, I have traveled almost constantly – bridging collaborating, and advocating freedom and solidarity in all our mobile Hope Hox art projects.
In 2020, COVID-19 and the lockdowns caused a sudden standstill. My professional practice collapsed, and Hope Box came to a halt. It was time to reflect and take a good look around me. In recent years, positive progress has stagnated or even regressed on many fronts, both in the Netherlands and across Europe. It sometimes feels as though the whole world is polarizing, with poor leaders emerging on every continent. Moreover, the ecological imbalance is at its lowest point. The world is in desperate need of positive transformation. Thankfully, there are also positive developments, and we must focus on them and actively work to prevent global destruction.
Do you believe there is a recurring theme present in your works? What is it?
Freedom and equality (to begin with) and transformation. In my work and through my art actions, I aim to support and empower current and future generations to be free and to embrace who they are and want to be in pure equality. Personally, I was inspired by my grandmothers and my parents, who always encouraged me to be myself and to look ahead and beyond the obvious. My Indonesian grandmother often emphasized that I am cosmopolitan and that I should never marry. In my early childhood, I didn’t fully understand this, as I was hardly aware of the struggles she faced when she was young. Alongside colonial oppression, local Adat customs imposed strict limitations on girls and women. My grandmother managed to choose her husband at the age of thirty, and the story unfolds from that moment, detailing my family’s survival through the concentration camp and the Bersiap period in Indonesia, ultimately leading them to Amsterdam. There, new generations could enjoy a free and safe life for decades.
What intrigued you about Iran and motivated you to develop a project focused on it?
I am not intrigued but concerned about Iran and the world at large. The situation in Iran has been worsening over the years, creating a mind-blowingly unjust and untenable reality for most people there, especially for women. Within the context of all the other troubling and dangerous developments worldwide, the situation in Iran is particularly significant and poignant.
We are all in the same boat… Freedom comes with responsibility.
In the International Institute of Social History (IISG) the Meet Rosa Luxemburg exhibition, I highlight Rosa Luxemburg alongside other heroes from our past and present in my Clouds and Kites of Transformation. Three of these present heroes—Nika Shakarami, Sarina Esmailzadeh, and Armita Geravand—were brutally murdered at the age of sixteen by the Iranian police during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran. You can find their portraits in the Clouds and on a Kite of Transformation in this exhibition.
Within the context of the Meet Rosa Luxemburg exhibition at the International Institute of Social History, I planned to initiate a couple of Kite of Transformation gatherings on urgent topics. Since one of the two kites portrayed Nika, Sarina, and Armita, we decided to focus on the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. (See info on Kite of Transformation Iran at the end of this interview.)*
You mentioned the concept of “Transformation”. Could you please elaborate on what you mean by that?
Transformation is the title of a series of works of art (Clouds) and art actions (Kites). It is about change in general and, for me as a creator, about my artistic journey from spirited artist to art activist and beyond. What is the meaning and importance of visual art in life, and how can we contribute to positive change? As the child of a free-spirited mother from The Hague and an adventurous father from Surabaya, I have always felt the freedom to be who I am, to go where I want, and to do what I can. That’s what I’ve done for the past three decades, being active worldwide with our mobile art project, Hope Box. Although I sometimes find it challenging to find my footing and earn a living when I return home, I have a local field of possibilities with a safety net in case of emergency. My increasing involvement in social art projects stems from my awareness of my privileged position in the world, as well as a growing realization that we must change drastically to save it.
What similarities and differences did you discover between your project on the Woman, Life, Freedom movement and your other projects?
Nika, Sarina, Armita, and all the others who lived and died for freedom. In their short lives, they managed to bridge worlds and remind us that we are all the same, no matter how different our backgrounds may be. Their deaths are heartbreaking, and the details are too gruesome and barbaric to fully comprehend. At the same time, they connected with people from all over the world during their lives and continue to empower a new generation, uplifting us all to think and act.
I have never been to Iran. Usually, my HBX projects are deeply rooted in the local community. In this Kite of Transformation Iran gathering, the participants came from the Iranian diaspora, Ukraine, and the Netherlands.
*Kite of Transformation Iran
Kites are the ultimate symbol of freedom. About 25 years ago artist Rienke Enghardt started to use kites in the global Hope Box (HBX) art actions. These kites have been active all over the world from Gaza City to Havana and from Hanoi to Johannesburg to continue to strengthen and spread the message of freedom and solidarity.
In this Meet Rosa Luxemburg exhibition Rienke highlights Rosa Luxemburg amongst other heroes from our past and present in her Clouds and Kites of Transformation. Three of the present heroes, Nika Shakarami, Sarina Esmailzadeh, and Armita Geravand were brutally murdered at the age of sixteen by the Iranian police during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran. You can find their portraits in the Clouds and on a Kite of Transformation in this exhibition.
June 24, 2024, we initiated an HBX Kite of Transformation Iran gathering in this IISG building. During this gathering, we shared a central question: What is Freedom? – with personal examples and collective drawing on the long kite-tail with participants from different generations and walks of life. This has resulted in a shared definition of the subject and a collective artwork by the group on the tail of the kite.
Freedom is everything and for everybody.
Foremost for those in need,
Freedom is simple and complex, Freedom is free…
Freedom is Solidarity!
Marzi, Sara, Reyhane, Leyla, Zari, Nahid, Sedigheh, Ryan, Rose, Alina, Jaike and Rienke
