Philip Aguirre y Otegui

Philip Aguirre y Otegui (born 1961 in Schoten) is a Belgian artist who mainly works as a sculptor and painter. His work usually centers around migration and refugees, water, and the shelter of architecture. Aguirre studied in Antwerp and now lives in Borgerhout.

In 2017 he won the International Award for Public Art for his 2010 installation Théatre Source in Douala, Cameroon. In 2015 a 45-minute documentary with a voice-over by Jan Decleir, about the making of this work was created by cineast Koen Van den Bril. It showed how a muddy well was transformed in 9 months time into a meeting place for a village. Art publisher Ludion also made a book about the installation.

Major works 1996: Fountain, Koolkaai, Antwerp 2001 The carrier of the mattress, concrete sculpture in Brussels Airport 2009: Gaalgui, wooden sculpture, Nieuwpoort 2010-2013: Théatre Source, a monumental work with a well and a staircase, in Douala, Cameroon 2016: Cabinet Mare Nostrum, painting 2016: Still (the) Barbarians, installation 15 August 1942, Lange Kievitstraat, Antwerpen, sculpture in the Kazerne Dossin – Memorial about the first razzia against Jews in Belgium Fallen dictator Karel van Miert, a sculpture in Oud-Turnhout The man of Flanders, City hall, Kaprijke Water sculpture, Provinciehuis, Antwerp Water carrier, bronze, University of Antwerp. Also exists in beeswax.

Major solo exhibitions 2008: Middelheim Open Air Sculpture Museum, Antwerp 2013: Mu.ZEE, Ostend