Carolina Khouri writes: Before putting my thoughts together about my time spent with A Personal Gesture, I thought I would go back to the beginning and read the Manifesto and reflect on the project six years on from its implementation.

The arrival of A Personal Gesture
To celebrate the arrival of A Personal Gesture we organised little gathering for 15 - 20 people. Invited guests were friends - mainly creatives based or connected to Harringay Warehouse Districts, where we live and work. There were warm welcomes and goodbye hugs, we gathered around the kitchen table and spacious living room. We chatted about our current projects, new ideas and opportunities. It was nice occasion to catch up.
That evening was very different to those from the era of lockdowns with social and distance restrictions. Limited physical proximity and tactile communication seems to be long gone and nobody really remembered it anymore. The world moved on.
The handover was a lovely moment. When Christiane opened the box and saw the sculpture everyone was surprise to see it. After Thibaut’s introduction, Wojtek Sobczynski, a sculptor with extensive knowledge of art history, gave a short yet insightful account of Michelangelo’s Pietà, the attack that damaged it and Rini Hurkmans’s cast process. This piece of history was met with both interest and amazement.

The sculpture found the prominent place on our old piano. It has been on display on and off, provoking discussions about the project and the gesture.

After six months, it was time for us to pass it on. The handover was delayed and the recipients changed as dates were postponed due to other commitments and the many matters people were preoccupied with. Here we are, back in busy times, where there is very little time for "the gestures" that six years ago we missed the most. We are back in our own bubbles and only shared and created together ideas with a common vision are what keep us together.

“Therefore, it is needed to consider all aspects and qualities of the gesture.“ - Rini writes in the Manifesto… So, what the gesture means for me? It is being alive. For me as an artist, being alive also means creating art, which can inspire, leave a lasting impression and touch people.
For Greg from the architectural practice Seven Studio the sculpture symbolises the skills and possibilities that human can communicate through hand. I could not agree more!

The handover
Finally, A Personal Gesture was passed on to Greg and Jamie Monday 27 July 2026. The handover took place on site of their first major architectural project Studio One.

From Wojciech Sobczynski

… ‘I have had a small role in the progress of this interesting project.

The handover from Mr&Mrs Thibaut to Carolina and I at no1 Overbury Road was special.

The hand and associated paraphernalia were impressive in itself,

(not just any hand, but the hand of Pieta by Michael Angelus Bonarotus Patritius Florentinus as described by his biographer Ascanio Condivi).

Yes, I know, it is a copy from the reconstructed material.

Nevertheless, for me as a sculptor it remains his creative legacy and it counts as a kind of 'holy relic'.

We enjoyed participating in it but the time for handover and succession was a necessity.’