About Renee

In her work, the Berlin-based Dutch artist Renee van Bavel explores themes of freedom, peace, democracy, and human connection, encouraging viewers to engage with these subjects on a deeply personal level. Through a multidisciplinary artistic practice, she creates opportunities for people to engage with and experience these themes on a personal level. Her immersive artwork THE MIRROR OF PEACE embodies this approach. In the form of a monumental mirror, the installation presents viewers with a life-sized reflection of themselves, accompanied by the words: “This is what people living in peace look like.” The work is a powerful invitation to reflect on peace and on our place in the world we live in today. The artwork makes tangible the realization that peace cannot be taken for granted and invites us to consciously contribute to preserving it every day.

At this moment, an edition of THE MIRROR OF PEACE is prominently positioned in the main courtyard of the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna, Austria, where the artwork invites visitors to reflect on peace and our place in the world. THE MIRROR OF PEACE does not approach the question of peace in an abstract way; rather, it allows viewers to have a deeply personal experience of reflection on this pressing issue of our time.

In the summer of 2025, in collaboration with the Draiflessen Collection, THE MIRROR OF PEACE was presented at the Global Heart Summit of The Wellbeing Project in the city center of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

In 2022, in collaboration with the Draiflessen Collection and Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore – Benedicti Claustra Onlus, van Bavel presented THE MIRROR OF PEACE during the Biennale Arte in Venice. Since 2023, an edition of THE MIRROR OF PEACE has been included in the collection of the Draiflessen Collection and can be experienced in the museum garden of the Draiflessen Collection in Mettingen, Germany.

From 2022 to 2024, Van Bavel was Artist in Residence at the Memorial Sites Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück, where she developed new artistic approaches to remembrance and collective memory through art, with projects such as LIFELINE, EVERY WOMAN A MONUMENT, and Gedenk.Feier.

From 2001 to 2018, she wrote and composed songs for international state ceremonies and commemorations, including commissions for the Parliamentarians’ House in Berlin, the Berlin Wall Foundation, and the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands. She has performed on several occasions for King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, former German President Joachim Gauck, and the current German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Renee van Bavel lives and works in Berlin.

‘My work is a bridge between society and the art world.
Always hopeful, confident, and focused on the future.’

Renee van Bavel