Kenneth and art critic Peter Cooreman have been friends for more than a decade and when they met, there was an instant connection.
Peter describes their meeting of minds: “there was a click… there was a kind of chemistry.”
What’s clear is that they are kindred spirits who have formed a strong friendship that has lasted through the bad times and the good.
In life, Kenneth is fiercely loyal. “He stood by my side to support me through some of my hardest times”, Peter acknowledges.
That warmth and support is often reciprocated. They have been there for each other, both going through sometimes difficult periods together. “That is how we became closer,” says Peter.
Loyalty is something that is prevalent in all of Kenneth’s relationships. Integrity is quite important, so he doesn’t disappear when things are hard. This investment into his friends means that they in turn are there for him.
Amusingly, Peter compares them to a married couple: “although we don’t bicker about the temperature on the thermostat setting, the recycling or whose turn it is to do the washing up.” Nor do they finish each other’s sentences.
Kenneth lives his life in flux between being driven to live faster - seemingly in a race to keep going for the sheer exhilarating joy of living at a fast pace - and wanting to slow down and enjoy himself at a calmer pace.
Peter believes there were warning signs. But Kenneth was so vibrant, such a vivacious person that nobody believed it could be serious. Could it?
And yet it was very serious; a few years ago, Kenneth suffered a brain haemorrhage.
After he recovered, Kenneth became more open to keeping himself in better health – physically, mentally and spiritually. “Has he changed?” Peter asks. Well, he observes that Kenneth used to live recklessly and went through a wild phase (we’ve all been there!) but now he is generally calmer. He’s tougher and has had develop emotional strength. Kenneth appreciates his life more. Peter calls it “a positive evolution” and believes Kenneth has been humbled by his experience.
Kenneth’s motto for life is, “You win some and you learn some”. His attitude is not about losing and it’s not about being perfect or winning every time. It’s about taking the harder experiences, the more challenging ones and learning from them. That is what makes him such a strong character and presence.
Kenneth and Peter see things very differently in their initial visions for projects, but they feel the same way about them. They are passionate and creative. Their projects strive to connect people through a shared experience of beauty.
They balance each other out in their approach to the work; Peter says: “I am more of a dreamer. Kenneth is a total realist. He is a diplomat. He never loses his sense of balance.” They take each other through spirals of ideas and fuel each other’s enthusiasm for creativity and art. When working on Borgwal they wanted to accomplish something unlike museums. Those have been done before and if you want a museum experience you can find one anywhere. Kenneth said Borgwal was about creating an immersive experience of beauty to bring people together and allow them to connect. That is what they achieved.
Kenneth and Peter are opening a children’s playground that they have designed - they are literally building for the future. Their desire to connect people through beauty and art reflects the workings of their own friendship. It shows a great generosity of spirit that they want to create this kind of shared connection and experiences for others.
Video: Peter talks about his curatorship for art-projects in the future.