The Berenkuil

Art is like love  …. When it’s pleasing to the eye, heart or soul, that’s when you fall in love with it. Sometimes, you can look at something and think “What is that person thinking, creating something like that!!” but then if you give it a few minutes of thought you can change your way of thinking to…” what was that person thinking, creating something like that?”

 I’ve always had trouble looking at modern art; it just doesn’t make sense to my eyes or heart. After moving to Eindhoven in The Netherlands, I was saddened to see a lot of the beautiful city walls and buildings smeared with graffiti. Various writings and pictures scatter the city defacing the beauty of some very old buildings. The letters PSV, the local professional football team, are tagged on walls and poles all over town. I’m all for supporting and cheering for your local sports teams but these three letters are written on everything.

I’ve learned that not only is graffiti tolerated, it’s encouraged. The prime places for an artist to leave their mark are sold. Other places are just randomly drawn on.

My favorite place to see the graffiti is in an area in Eindhoven called The Berenkuil, which means, the bear pit. It’s a free zone where the artists are allowed to paint without be bothered by the authorities. This is an area where there’s a roundabout for cars above, then a lower area for bikes. Thus... the pit. The whole inner pit is covered in graffiti.

 I’m looking forward to the next International graffiti festival called “Step in the Arena”. They paint the whole area black and start all over with new art.

Graffiti…. I say YES!