Endless Imagination, Museum Cobra, Amstelveen

From 13 July -15 September 2024, ‘Endless Imagination’ was opened to the public at Museum Cobra. The exhibition features entries for the Special Award 2023-2024, a promotional program and visual arts competition for artists with disabilities. Shakuru Tajiri and I were invited as co-curators, alongside other art professionals and various museums, to select from the submitted works. From over 700 beautiful entries, we chose 33 impactful works to be presented at Museum Cobra, ranging from sculptures and paintings to multimedia pieces. Besides personal preference, we selected works that resonated with the aesthetic of CoBrA due to their playfulness, experimental quality, originality, and humor.

See our online exhibition for Special Arts here.

Additionally, we were asked to select several pieces from Museum Cobra's own collection that complemented our selection, including works by Shinkichi Tajiri, Karel Appel, Anton Rooskens, and Corneille.

Photos of exhibition by Victor Wennekes

Art by people with disabilities was an important source of inspiration for the CoBrA artists. Defying academic rules, they found purity and uninhibitedness in Art Brut.

The Special Award is an initiative of Special Arts, a national foundation that promotes art and cultural participation for artists with disabilities. With a wide range of activities, Special Arts aims to encourage and enthuse these artists and others to engage with art.

The exhibition 'Endless Imagination' will have a sequel in September 2024 with the exhibition 'Recall of Infinity'. A jury will choose the Special Award winner for 2024 from the artists displayed there. A publication will be available with works of the nominated artists.