From Italy to the Netherlands: the smog-eating mural also arrives in Amsterdam

One of the world’s first smog-eating murals is also arriving in the Netherlands, specifically in Amsterdam: after presenting Hunting Pollution, Europe’s largest green mural in 2018 in Rome, and Naoto and Outside IN in 2020, the nonprofit Yourban2030, led by Veronica De Angelis, will create Diversity in Bureaucracy. A 100-square-meter art intervention to reflect on thetheme of inequality, which is entrusted to Dutch street artist JDL and will neutralize the emissions of twenty gasoline cars every day.

A virtuous example of international exchange and excellence, which sees the export of Italian best practices and an unprecedented Eco-Friendly Made in Italy from Italy to Europe, with support from Prince Bernard Culture Fund and the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts.

Diversity in Bureaucracy will be created on Leidseplein in Amsterdam-Centrum; Judith de Leeuw aka JDL will begin painting it today, on a wall of a building belonging to the housing association De Alliantie. Already the creator of Rome’s LGBT+ smog-eating mural, Outside In, the street artist will again use Italian “Airlite Sunlight” paint that can purify the air and fight air pollution.

“Spreading the culture of sustainability through art is our mission, and Judith immediately took up the challenge,” says Veronica De Angelis, president of Yourban2030. "As an entrepreneur, for me it all starts with the need to personally engage our resources, to revise public urban spaces by enriching them with new breaths and beauty, technology and art. Beyond words, the actions that we have developed and promoted in Italy and today in the Netherlands demonstrate factually that it is possible to activate real and concrete operations, moving from ideas to deeds. Hunting Pollution, Outside In, in Rome, and Diversity in Bureaucracy in Amsterdam demonstrate that it is possible to realize real redevelopment of public spaces by private individuals as well, by entrepreneurship that cares about public health, as a project that can be implemented on a large scale, understanding beauty as a means of redemption and shared social well-being. This in my opinion is the new frontier of corporate social responsibility, which can also be undertaken through international synergies and public and private communions of purpose."

“When sunlight reflects off paint, a chemical reaction occurs that is similar to that of chlorophyll photosynthesis,” adds Maura Crudeli, Project Manager and Vice President of Yourban2030. “Some of the most polluting agents from vehicular traffic (NOx) are neutralized and transformed into inert salts, which are then washed away by rainfall: 100 square meters painted with Airlite is equivalent to 100 square meters of forest with tall trees, and its effectiveness is guaranteed for at least ten years.”

Every year, about seven million people die from the effects of air pollution, according to data from the World Health Organization. Award-winning artist Judith de Leeuw, who has made large murals all over the world, from Kosovo to Kuala Lumpur, considers sustainability a very important aspect of her work: “This is one of the first murals in the Netherlands made with this special paint, and I am proud to be able to use it.”

The nonprofit Yourban2030 is inspired by the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda, and creates virtuous connections between art and technological innovations to bring to life art projects capable of speaking about the environment and sustainability. Art in the service of the Earth, art generating the image of the future toward which humanity should strive, art as messenger and educator.

Image: Hunting Pollution. Ph.Credit Luca Perazzolo

From Italy to the Netherlands: the smog-eating mural also arrives in Amsterdam

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