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Photo by: Estimado Jose Alfredo

Theo Jansen

  • Visual artist

Theo Jansen has gained world fame with his ‘strandbeests’. These sculptures, made of PVC tubes, walk on beaches powered by the wind or by wind stored in the sculpture itself. 

Jansen combines technical ingenuity with playful, aesthetic designs. The strandbeests evolve – some, for example, can even enter the water now. Jansen's work is so well known internationally that it has featured in an episode of The Simpsons. Jansen has also won various major awards, including the Witteveen+Bos prize for Art + Technology, the Briljanten Kunstenaar van het Jaar award in 2017, and the Kunstenaar van het Jaar award in 2018. He also received the Haagse Cultuurprijs in the same year.