About Neslon Carrilho

Figuration and craftsmanship form the basis for Nelson Carrilho’s sculpting practice. In terms of content, his path was determined by his Caribbean-Surinamese background and his ancestors from Africa, India and the original population of Suriname. Culturally, a vast area, which he manages to condense into one feeling of life that is translated into bronze under his hands, but also into rhythm and dance. For Carrilho, that feeling is everywhere, especially in a magical place deep within every person.

The sculpture Négritude and the loss of virginity, 2025, which is on display at ARTZUID, suggests a transformation, not a loss. Négritude was a French-speaking African and Caribbean literary and ideological movement that was developed in the 1930s by black intellectuals. Poetry and literature played a central role in expressing their ideals. Loss is not an end point, but the start of emancipation, in which imposed identities are said goodbye to and a new spiritual path to freedom is taken.