The story
Scharloo Abou Art and Culture Festival in Scharloo
A historic Willemstad quarter combining UNESCO-recognised nineteenth-century merchant mansions on Scharlooweg with the Street Art Skalo mural project in adjoining Scharloo Abou, which has transformed former warehouse streets into a permanent open-air gallery since 2016, plus occasional organised events including an annual Freedom Festival celebrating local music and tradition.
Nineteenth-century mansions built by Willemstad's wealthiest merchant families, many of them Jewish traders who prospered on maritime commerce, still line Scharlooweg, the main street of Scharloo, a UNESCO-recognised historic quarter since 1999 whose grandeur has more recently been joined by an entirely different kind of art.