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![The bird and the cat]( "The bird and the cat")
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![Mutual Secrets]( "Mutual Secrets")
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![Mutual Secrets]( "Mutual Secrets")
infoThe embroidery installation on my studio wall
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![L'Observatoire]( "L'Observatoire")
infoDuring the Artist-in-Residence in Beaulieu-lès-Loches, Akunzo made the work L'Observatoire in ‘Les Prairies du Roi’. These are the wet soils of Beaulieu-lès-Loches. The in situ artwork looks like a huge vase woven in a lace of branches. Visitors can enter, sit down or lie down on the wooden bench and look at the sky. Inside, in this open space, they experience a sacred and serene atmosphere. Sunlight is filtered through the tissue of branches. The organic lace-like structure can be interpreted as an ode to nature. Bird's nest, cocoon, chrysalis... The Observatory reminds us of constructions made by birds or insects to protect and start a new cycle of life. It's a contemplative place for a moment of reflection and experience in connection with the universe. Beaux Lieux 2023, Beaulieu-lès-Loches, France.
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![L'Observatoire]( "L'Observatoire")
infoDuring the Artist-in-Residence in Beaulieu-lès-Loches, Akunzo made the work L'Observatoire in ‘Les Prairies du Roi’. These are the wet soils of Beaulieu-lès-Loches. The in situ artwork looks like a huge vase woven in a lace of branches. Visitors can enter, sit down or lie down on the wooden bench and look at the sky. Inside, in this open space, they experience a sacred and serene atmosphere. Sunlight is filtered through the tissue of branches. The organic lace-like structure can be interpreted as an ode to nature. Bird's nest, cocoon, chrysalis... The Observatory reminds us of constructions made by birds or insects to protect and start a new cycle of life. It's a contemplative place for a moment of reflection and experience in connection with the universe. Beaux Lieux 2023, Beaulieu-lès-Loches, France.
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![Meandering Thoughts (detail)]( "Meandering Thoughts (detail)")
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![meandering thoughts (detail)]( "meandering thoughts (detail)")
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![meandering thoughts (detail)]( "meandering thoughts (detail)")
infoEmbroidered installation on my studio wall.
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![PRECIOUS]( "PRECIOUS")
infoPRECIOUS is about the value and beauty of nature, about transience and eternity. The artwork, shaped like a vase in an organic lace-like weave of branches, is made on the site around a newly planted taxus (yew) tree, a symbol for eternity.
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LIQUID THOUGHTS video (02:14), showed in Shinano Primitive Sense Art Festival 2021 - the fleeting moment of water, Japan.
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![RESERVOIR]( "RESERVOIR")
infoSomewhere on the edge of Girona's old town, you can descend via a stone staircase to a small plateau on which there is a large jug-like object. Next to it, water drips from the rock (Font d’en Pericot) and a little below flows a stream. At least in winter season. The object, the artwork RESERVOIR, looks like a jar, a container for water, with an arched opening at the top, but at the same time it is transparent like lace, because it is woven from hazel branches. Water would seep through. RESERVOIR is about the availability of water for everyone, about preserving what is valuable and refers to the fragile situation of our planet in these issues. RESERVOIR was made for Art & Gavarres on site by the Dutch artist duo AKUNZO. Art & Gavarres is an International Landart Festival in the Gavarres region.
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![RESERVOIR]( "RESERVOIR")
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![TAKE A MOMENT]( "TAKE A MOMENT")
infoAkunzo (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) created the installation for Horizons Arts-Nature en Sancy
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Me, my lipstick and the carousel. ... "She desperately attempts to apply her lipstick, the carousel rotates and rotates, the noise becomes piercing, time passes." Video: Karola Pezarro, sound: Niels de Bakker.
Collaboration
Websites
My work is based on a strong sense of wonder about the fragility of life, about how the human mind works, how you remember, how your thoughts fan out. In my artworks I ask questions about what you carry with you visibly or invisibly. I examine these questions in embroidery drawings, I represent them in carriers with light-hearted luggage and in video sculptures.
www.karolapezarro.nlAKUNZO (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) The body of work of Akunzo consists of ephemeral, site-specific projects. Each project has a strong commitment to the site and the environment as a whole. Projects are a reflection on a site or the history of a place, and often deal with concerns about the future of the planet. Akunzo works right on the site and often uses natural materials from the vicinity such as branches or earth. Sometimes unnatural elements related to the subject of the work are added. The combination of place and artwork is meaningful for Akunzo. They reinforce each other and together they form the project. That connection between site and what is made on the site, that's what it's all about. The observer experiences the project as a whole, possibly generating a new view, a new meaning or awareness.
www.akunzo.comSocial media
Member of Artists’ Initiative/Collective/Incubator
AKUNZO Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker
Platform
AININ art in nature international
Curriculum vitae
Education
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1981 - 1982Omgevingsvormgeving Den Haag, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten
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1974 - 1979Architectonische vormgeving en meubelontwerp Den Haag, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten diploma
exhibitions
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2024VOLTA BASEL Basel, Switzerland The CAMP-gallery - based in Miami - showed my embroidered installation MEANDERING THOUGHTS at Volta Basel. Group
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2024Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse: We Got the Power. CAMP-gallery,The Contemporary Art Modern Project Miami, United States Open since October 11, 2024, the sixth edition of this exhibition series draws inspiration from Lysistrata by Aristophanes, and Spike Lee's response to organized violence in Chi-Raq. Honoring the play and its era, over 100 pieces were made for the open call, all touching on themes of violence, war, sexual power, the patriarchy, and the power of women. These artworks will be installed as a continuous frieze throughout our gallery space, up until the end of the year. Group
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2023WORKING TOGETHER Pulchri Studio Den Haag Exhibition about In Situ projects of Akunzo (duo Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) and the presentation of a new project with bees and wax. Duo
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2023ART THEORAMA #3 Gallerie delle Prigioni Treviso, Italie Exhibition and presentation of the catalog. ‘Art Theorema #3’ is part of the Imago Mundi Collection curated by Claudio Scorretti, Irina Ungureanu.
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2021Shinano Hall Shinano, Japan Video LIQUID THOUGHTS (02:14), Shinano Primitive Sense Art Festival 2021 - the fleeting moment of water, Japan. Group
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2020SOFTART KNSM LOODS 6 Amsterdam, Netherlands Tentoonstelling 'aaibare kunst' georganiseerd door SBK Amsterdam. Group
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2018ABSENCE OF WHERE YOU ARE Kadmium Delft, Netherlands Tentoonstelling en publicatie samen met fotograaf Guus Rijven, curator: Ingrid van Santen. Duo
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2018HOOGTIJ #52 Spanjaardshof Den Haag, Netherlands Light, sound and video sculptures, with Niels de Bakker, Den Haag
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2016UNICITEIT AUTENTICITEIT Espace Enny Laag Keppel, Netherlands Reeks tentoonstellingen Group
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2015WINTERLICHT Julianapark Schiedam, Netherlands Videosculptuur Visions. Video Karola Pezarro. Sound Niels de Bakker. Group
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2012ERGENS ANDERS CBK Emmen De Fabriek Tentoonstelling met publicatie Solo
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2010TUSSEN DE TIJD Museum Rijswijk Tentoonstelling met publicatie Solo
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2010Galerie Lutz Delft, Netherlands Borduurwerken Duo
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2009TEXTIEL BIENNALE Museum Rijswijk Group
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2009INNA ARCHITEKTURA Galeria Kobro Lodz, Poland Tentoonstelling en publicatie Group
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2007ITS GRAZ Graz, Austria Tentoonstelling, symposium en publicatie Group
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2005LICHT UND LEICHT Villa Kobe Halle/S, Germany Tentoonstelling, symposium en publicatie Group
Projects
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2024
Artist in Residence Sowing Seeds Badanga, India Sowing Seeds 2024 invited us (duo Akunzo) and sixteen artists from all over the world and also artists from India for an Artist in Residence in Badanga, Udaipur, India. The purpose was to connect you as an artist with the local culture, people, materials and crafts. We were invited because our work is visually responsive to the environment and we are interested in local customs and skills.
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2023
L'OBSERVATOIRE Beaulieu-lès-Loches, France by Akunzo (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker), Beaux Lieux.
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2022
PRECIOUS ASELART, Mazcuerras, Spain Mazcuerras, Spain PRECIOUS is about the value and beauty of nature, about transience and eternity. The artwork, shaped like a vase in an organic lace-like weave of branches, is made on the site around a newly planted taxus (yew) tree, a symbol for eternity. The sculpture highlights the tree as nature-element and protects it. As the years go by, the taxus tree will grow and the artwork will disappear.
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2022
DE WATERDRAAGSTER kunstfestival Woest & Bijster Landgoed Quadenoord, Renkum, Netherlands AKUNZO created ‘De waterdraagster’ (She who carries water) in a dry stream bordered by tall beech trees, as if in a natural cathedral. ‘De waterdraagster’ refers to the precarious water situation here and elsewhere in the world. The artwork is woven as a transparent lace with branches of beech and American oak, which are collected on site.
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2022
OXYGEN Kentucky, United States by Akunzo, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. Artist-in-residency.
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2021
RESERVOIR Art & Gavarres Girona Spain Girona, Spain Somewhere on the edge of Girona's old town, you can descend via a stone staircase to a small plateau on which there is a large jug-like object. Next to it, water drips from the rock (Font d’en Pericot) and a little below flows a stream. At least in winter season. The object, the artwork RESERVOIR, made by Akunzo (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) looks like a jar, a container for water, with an arched opening at the top, but at the same time it is transparent like lace, because it is woven from hazel branches. Water would seep through. RESERVOIR is about the availability of water for everyone, about preserving what is valuable and refers to the fragile situation of our planet in these issues.
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2021
DER SCHUTZPATRON Twingi Land Art Binntal, Switzerland The patron saint. The old post road through the steep Twingi gorge (between Ernen and Binn, Zwitserland) meanders along the slope. Along the road you will discover various memorials of people who died here. For hikers and walkers here and elsewhere Akunzo made Der Schutzpatron, to protect us all on our way.
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2021
EN ROUTE Lez'Arts en Adret Hautecour, France A Wolf carries the Planet on his back and runs forward. Like this Wolf, we are all on the way. The question is: where to, what is our destination and what do we do along our way? How do we relate to the Planet in the meantime? En route is made right on the spot by AKUNZO (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) using hazelnut branches.
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2021
IN TRANSIT Etangs d'Art Lac Trégu, France In Lake Trégu in Brocéliande, a feather-light boat floats just above the surface of the water. A creature resembling a wolf or a dog waits in the boat. Is it the ferryman who carries souls across? Do animal, boat and water refer to stories, such as the myth of Ys, the Breton city that disappeared under water? Brocéliande is a region in Bretagne that is a breeding ground for all kinds of myths and stories. Akunzo hopes this work will give rise to new stories. IN TRANSIT is made by Akunzo.
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2020
TADITADATADI Parcour des fees Crevoux, France TADITADATADI is inspired by the book Homo Ludens that the Dutch historian Huizinga wrote eighty years ago, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. His book is an ode to freedom. Only in freedom can play unfold and culture develop. Huizinga assumed that people are ‘homo ludens’, people who play. From this idea comes the basic thought that everything we call ‘culture’ comes out of play and also develops in a playful way. When the playing ability comes under pressure, the whole culture is under pressure. TADITADATADI challenges people to play together, experience space, see nature in different ways, listen to nature, make sounds and sing, throw or roll a ball, photograph each other through the funnel and to hide in, behind or under the artwork. TADITADATADI is made by Akunzo.
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2019
UNE VUE DE RÊVE Sentier des Arts, Royan Atlantique Vitrezay, France UNE VUE DE RÊVE is situated on the border of the Gironde, in France. On this site the visitor can appreciate the environment and dream of life. The work consists of a roof whose shape resembles a zeppelin resting on five elegant feet. The visitor will wonder where it comes from. Only when he approaches, he realizes that it is built from branches that have been harvested on site, painted in white. The branches are woven together like lace. The form is based on meeting places in African villages where people discuss life while watching the passers-by. The work is visible from afar and serves as a landmark. The visitor can sit under the transparent roof or lean against one of the legs of this strange shape, looking at the landscape and the water, simply contemplating. UNE VUE is made by Akunzo.
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2018
TAKE A MOMENT Horizons Sancy Arts-Nature Egliseneuve d'Entraigues, France Take a moment is an ode to the stream d’Entraigues. The work appears as a romantic piece of lace or a canopy suspended above the stream. Karola Pezarro and Aris de Bakker (Akunzo) created the installation for Horizons Arts-Nature en Sancy using branches of hazel gathered near the site. In this land art process, the artists wove the elements together on the spot. Here, the artistic creation is perceived through and within the medium of nature. The site of the installation thus becomes the subject and compels environment-friendliness. Take a moment thereby endeavours to express the spirit of the place, prompting ramblers to reflect.
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2017
INTERSECTION Art trails in The Great Outdoors Condrez-Famenne, Belgium The work consists of four covered passages which come together in a chapellike form right on the crossing of two paths. The installation is made of living willow branches and will grow and change over the years. The hiker will enter the work in order to continue his promenade. INTERSECTION is made by Akunzo.
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2015
ODE TO THE DRAFT HORSE Fete de Mai, sentiers d'Art dans la Nature, Gesves, Belgie Gesves, Belgium The village Gesves is famous for its horses, particularly the draft horse. The villagers used these horses to remove enormous tree trunks. Ode to the draft horse consists of stacked logs of larch in two rows of two meters high. Together they form a narrow corridor, which is more open and circular in the center. In this circular space Akunzo placed at the ends of the logs soft horse’s tails made of colorful threads of jute and sisal. The artwork is built along a narrow path that is covered with a canopy of trees and shrubs and runs between wheat and rapeseed fields. Every hiker walking on the trail will pass through the work.
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2015
OU SE TROUVE LE PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE Artistes en Campagne Savins, France Akunzo ‘wove’ a cocoon of more than three meters in length from hazel branches. The wall of the cocoon is slightly transparent. The visitor sees a silhouette of a creature lurking inside. The title of the work is formulated as a question. Almost everyone knows the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. But do we truly understand the significance of the story? Which meanings are concealed? Where is Little Red Riding Hood? surely excites the imagination of the viewers.
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2014
AT HOME Open Sites | Art Terre, Ploegsteert, Belgie Ploegsteert, Belgium An installation by Akunzo for Open Sites | Art Terre 2014, Ploegsteert, Belgium. Everywhere and in all circumstances, man is trying to create his own place. The installation At Home is inspired by a photograph of men playing cards on a table in a trench during the first world war. A strange domestic scene. The spiral-shaped structure in the form of a snail shell is made of bricks and clay. The building is two meters high. The exterior is rough and hermetic. Inside, one discovers a scene of everyday life, a place for human life. On the wall are pictures and a painting. Against the wall one can see a table and a chair. On the table a dish, a spoon, a pair of glasses and an open book are ranked. All of these prior known articles are covered with a thin layer of beeswax. The wall is covered with a clay layer. In the clay seed pods of poppies are pressed.
International exchanges/Residencies
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2024Artist in Residence Sowing Seeds Badanga, India Sowing Seeds 2024 invited us (duo Akunzo) and sixteen artists from all over the world and also artists from India for an Artist in Residence in Badanga, Udaipur, India. The purpose was to connect you as an artist with the local culture, people, materials and crafts. We were invited because our work is visually responsive to the environment and we are interested in local customs and skills.
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2022kunstfestival Woest & Bijster Estate Quadenoord, Renkum , Netherlands Artist in Residence, AKUNZO, Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker woestenbijster.nl
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2019Tankwa Artscape Kaapstad Tankwa Desert, South Africa ECHO OF THE DESERT The rawness of nature is overwhelming here. All shrubs have spines, so that - if there are leaves - goats do not immediately eat everything. The gray dead branches that we find are tough and hard. Everything that wants to live here must make a huge effort. People's attempts to exist here are clearly in vain. Yet there is also a bird's nest, there are bees, we see beetles. In our eyes, the round basin makes an embracing gesture, it carries the dream of water, life and growth. When we draw, a comprehensive, nurturing form arises, leaning against the basin, as a counterbalance to the harsh environment. We decide to use only materials that we can find in the immediate vicinity of the basin. We weave a structure from the bottom of the basin with gray dead branches that embraces a part of the wall. The branches stick out in a natural way, as if a new bush has emerged. A bit above the edge of the basin we create a horizontal boat-like shape in the structure by weaving a double line of branches. On this we place an exuberant amount of coral-like white twigs, which grab up like claws. These coral-like twigs are the dead remains of a special plant that has ‘green fingers’ when alive. We experience the twigs as a subtle hint to the former seabed. At the top of the basin we lay one by one round and egg-shaped dark boulders that connect the basin and the structure of branches like a chain. The installation blends into the landscape, because it is built in the same colors and materials. As you approach from the hill it will only become visible when you get closer. Looking from the top of the hill nothing seems to have happened.
Commissions
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2014HIJ ZIT Provincie Zuid-Holland Tussen Gouda en Rotterdam, langs Hollandsche IJssel, Netherlands 1999-2014 sitting elements in different setting and on different places along the Hollandsche IJssel finished
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2012GEDENKPLEK ELZENHOF Begraafplaats Elzenhof Harderwijk, Netherlands Gedenkplek voor ongeboren kinderen in opdracht van de gemeente Harderwijk finished
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2009PRECIOUS MEMORIES Gemeente Leidschendam-Voorburg Voorburg, Netherlands Beeld in keramiek voor kinderafdeling van Oosterbegraafplaats finished
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2008HET VERHAAL VAN HOUT Woningcorporatie ZVH Zaandam Zaandam, Netherlands In architectuur geintegreerde elementen in opnieuw gebouwde wijk finished
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2007LANT VAN BELOFTE Gemeente Schiedam en BAM Vastgoed Schiedam Keramische tekeningen op muur van binnentuin en begeleidende publicatie finished
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2005WOLKENBANKEN Vestia, Den Haag ihkv de prijs "levende stad" Den Haag, Netherlands Banken in terrazzo. Hof Loevensteijn Den Haag Zuid-West finished
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2003PLAY GROW Gemeente Pijnacker Pijnacker, Netherlands Hekwerk met aluminium beelden finished
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2000FAMILIE VAN VEERTIEN Gemeente Gouda Gouda, Netherlands Veertien bronzen beelden voor begraafplaats en crematorium IJsselhof finished
Sales/Works in collections
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--Particulieren Nederland, Nederland
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--Audax Textielmuseum Tilburg, Nederland
Publications
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2018Absence of where you are Kadmium, Delft Ingrid van Santen Publicatie bij gelijknamige tentoonstelling
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2010Karola Pezarro - TUSSEN DE TIJD Stichting HBKK, Voorburg Sandra Spijkerman Beknopte monogafie, deel 26 in Paletreeks
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2009Textiel Biennale Museum Rijswijk Catalogus bij gelijknamige tentoonstelling
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2007Lant van Belofte Gemeente Schiedam en BAM Vastgoed Publicatie als onderdeel van kunstopdracht
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2005Het Ondergewone STROOM, Den Haag Overzicht met 55 Haagse kunstenaars
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2005De Beelden Odapark, Venray Catalogus van beeldenpark
Awards and grants
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2018TAKE A MOMENT Horizons Sancy Arts-Nature Egliseneuve d'Entraigues, France Take a moment (by Akunzo, Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker) is rewarded with the prize ’Favorite of the public 2018 HORIZONS-SANCY’: 'L'oeuvre coup de coeur du public 2018’.
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2015OU SE TROUVE LE PETIT CHAPERON ROUGE, Prix LandArt 2015, werk gemaakt in samenwerking met Aris de Bakker Artistes en Campagne, Savins, Frankrijk Savins, France On June 14, 2015 the prize for the best Land Art work of the festival Des Artistes En Campagne in the French village Savins was awarded to this work of Akunzo (Karola Pezarro & Aris de Bakker).
Representation
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Secondary art-related activities
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1984 - 2019Projectleider tentoonstellingen Kunstgebouw