Jan Rothuizen

Jan Rothuizen is a visual artist well known for his Soft Atlas drawings, hand-drawn maps that blend observation, conversation, and storytelling.

I first came across his work during my bachelor's in Maastricht, when a teacher showed us the project Refugee Republic. It retained my attention, and a year later, once I moved to Amsterdam, I decided to reach out to him. Since I admired his work that crossed social issues and creativity, I wanted to meet him in person.

This is how it started. After a first meeting in his studio in Amsterdam, Jan Rothuizen invited me to help sell his drawing of the Concertgebouw, the city's iconic concert hall. Following a presentation of the opera's new season, we set up a dedicated corner where regulars could discover and purchase his artwork.