Walking through the streets of Phillipsburg, Dutch Sint Maarten’s capital, we were struck by the many brightly painted walls around the town. Some seemed to simply brighten people’s day while others had historical and cultural references to the island or hidden messages within them.
We met Laura Bijnsdorp from Color Me SXM who organised the project to find out more about how these paintings brought the community together and rescued the town during the economic struggles during the covid pandemic.
You can see the full interview with Laura below to learn more about the project.
If you’re visiting Sint Maarten, you can download a map of Philipsburg which shows you where all the murals are located. The route will take you past cafes, bars and shops where you can support local businesses and get a real flavour of the town.
My favourite mural depicts the Freedom Run, an important day in Sint Maarten’s history. There was a time when France, along with many countries around the world, had abolished slavery but Holland had not yet agreed. Two days after this change in the law was signed into action, a group of 26 slaves from a plantation on the Dutch side of the island made a run for freedom and crossed over to the French side.
When the plantation owners approached the French side to ask for their property back, they were refused as the 26 men and women who had crossed the border were now deemed free.
The artist who painted this mural, Annemiek van Kerkhof – Posthuma, was invited to take part in a reenactment of this historic day and wanted to represent her experience in the mural project.
There are also murals that invite visitors to interact with the artwork, from Loudahlia Brill’s 3D swing hanging beneath a flamboyant tree to Tim Dowling’s butterfly wings, and ALL of them are designed to be photographed. So check out Color Me SXM on Instagram for more inspiration and visit when you can!
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