Last man standing

About Johan van der Dong (artist, Groningen, 27th of April 1962)

As an artist Van der Dong is always busy in creating things you’ve never thought off. His( imaginary )world often touches the real one in awakening people about certain matters such as religion. His work is all about the tolerance people should have about each other. He asks many questions about the way people react on rituals and symbolism they used in daily life when set in unusual customs. In his work people are challenged to reconsider their thoughts about certain matters. In 2007 he offered to wash the feet of people curious as he was about the behavior they would give him. In last year’s P.O.Box of Allah he washed the feet of a Muslim member of parliament while talking about the role of religion in modern society. Lines of Dutch history were made up in relation of the integration of Muslims in Dutch society. In his conceptual work, he often asks people to participate in it by explaining the purpose of the project in relation to our modern community. An example of such a project is his world-famous concept ‘The Hotline of God’ which got more than 350.000 calls from all over the world. Very many languages were spoken in, on a voice in Dutch. It was by all means his most successful project ever.

Johan van der Dong is also known as an artist who is inspired by subjects such as The Waddensea and human behavior. He painted in his own way with strange materials to let people know how various and wonderful our environment is and can be,/ wondering in how people can live their lives

www.johanvanderdong.nl