Press Release
Back to Africa: Pierre Mertens returns Picasso’s masks to their source
*Launch of Covers for the World in Moshi, Tanzania*
Moshi (Tanzania), December 3, 2025 – Artist and activist Pierre Mertens unites art and care in a bold de-colonial gesture. The African masks that inspired Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon of 1907, return to Africa, where four Tanzanian artists will reinterpret the iconic painting. This act marks the launch of Covers for the World, a global art initiative that addresses decolonization in both art and health care.
Curated by Edith Doove, the launch coincides with the opening of the 16th House of Hope and the SHARE Global Knowledge Centre for Accessible Care by Child-Help International. From Moshi, Covers for the World will further develop across the Global South and the Global North.
Decolonization in art and care
Where Picasso was inspired by African art from a Western, and thus at the time, colonial, perspective, Covers for the World deliberately gives art and agency back. Four Tanzanian artists – Prince John Hugo, Lightness Jonas, David Valerian Mlay and Lilian Munuo – will create their own covers of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, rewriting the history of modernism from their perspective.
This decolonial gesture mirrors Mertens’ lifelong mission in care. As founder of Child-Help International, he has worked for decades to ensure that children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus in Africa receive the same access to surgery, continence management, and dignity as those in the Global North. He achieved this by explicitly ensuring that the organization was built with and supported by the beneficiaries themselves and run by local professionals. Mertens’ art and activism are deeply intertwined: more than 4,000 drawings, created daily since 2014, are now entering the art market, with his entire share of the proceeds of their sale supporting the new SHARE Knowledge Centre in Moshi.
A personal drive: art as care
Mertens’ work is inseparable from his personal story. His daughter Liesje was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus. Her short life shaped his art and led him to found Child-Help International, which now provides life-saving care to thousands of children.
“I am both an artist and an activist. The loss of my daughter Liesje gave me my mission: to transform grief into action, and art into care. What children like Liesje received in Europe – surgery, closeness, dignity – I wish for every child.” – Pierre Mertens
What happens in Moshi on December 3
– Procession with mothers, children, artists and collaborators from the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) to the 16th House of Hope – Opening of the 16th House of Hope and SHARE Global Knowledge Centre for Accessible Care – Les Demoiselles d’Avignon reinterpreted by African artists Tanzanian artists Prince John Hugo, Lightness Jonas, David Valerian Mlay, and Lilian Munuo.
– A public mural created with two Tanzanian artists and Pierre, names to be confirmed.
– Moringa trees planted in the garden of SHARE as sculptures of solidarity, inspired by Joseph Beuys’ 7000 Oaks and in refernce to Pierre Mertens’ Moringa Project (Belgium, 2002).
– African Heroes: Kanga cloths on which the lifelines of a hand are combined with the map of Dar es Salaam and a star chart. The names of the stars have been replaced by the names of African heroes.
Press invitation
We will organize a press conference in the week of 24 November in Moshi – date and time to be confirmed. Journalists are also welcome on December 3 to attend the launch and to meet Pierre Mertens (artist & activist), Edith Doove (curator), the participating African artists Prince John Hugo, Lightness Jonas, David Valerian Mlay, Lilian Munuo, and Mrs. Janet Manoni, director of Child-Help International. The project can also be followed online, and professional photographs will be available for publication.
Practical info & contact:
Press conference, time and place to be confirmed. Get in touch if you want to keep updated.
Press releases are also available in Dutch, French and German on request.
December 3, 2025 – International Day of Persons with Disabilities – Covers for the World
Program to follow.
Location: Moshi, Tanzania – 16th House of Hope, public space – SHARE Global Knowledge Center, Makongoro Street, Shanty Town, Moshi Town, Kilimanjaro.
The exhibition at SHARE can be visited after the opening on December 3 by appointment during office hours (8 am-4 pm).
Contact:
– Pierre Mertens – info[at]pierremertens.be – http://www.pierremertens.be
– Edith Doove – bureaudoove[at]gmail.com – https://bureaudoove.com
In case you want to support the project think of donating to the crowdfunder below:
Leave a comment