In the upcoming week we post some stories behind the new contributions to the Bolero project. To start with that of Frank JMA Castelyns, one of the initiators of the project:

The new work is a continuation of my previous contribution Remember Marc Twain – King Leopold’s soliloquy.
The new contribution Remember… is an ode to Morel, Casement, Harris and all the unknown courageous people who denounced the abuses in Congo at the beginning of the last century.
The title Why a truth commission if the truth is already known? I also applied in screen print like the other text. That was also the question of the newspaper article.

The white lines over the image of the smeared statue of Leopold II are the rivers of Congo that I applied to the original newspaper with phosphorescent paint along with black and white areas. These lines light up in the dark.
I copied the lines from a didactic school stamp used in the 60s and 70s to teach children in Belgium about Congo.

These lines in phosphorescent paint are like tears flowing upstream over the image of Leopold II and can also be seen as a metaphor for the return of the wealth that was once taken away.

Bolero 2021 runs until 10 April and can be visited on the square in front of the Centre André Malraux as well as in the rue des Bons Enfants in Rouen. You can make a virtual visit here.