Colourful mural on the PDS honours Sanda Dia’s memory

Case Maclaim paints the portrait

Right before the start of the new academic year, the artist Case Maclaim painted a portrait of Sanda Dia on the PDS auditorium. Sanda’s friends took the initiative, KU Leuven provided the wall.

On the street façade of the Pieter De Somer auditorium (PDS), right next to Sint-Donatuspark, or municipal park, adorns a mural of Sanda Dia. Sanda passed away in 2018 after suffering abuse as a result of an escalated hazing ritual`x of the fraternity Reuzegom.

Lucas, one of Sanda’s good friends, states that this project was inspired by the huge amount of support for Sanda and his family following the tragic event. ‘We believe that we have to commemorate Sanda in as many positive ways as possible.’ Bjorn Van Poucke (founder of All about things, the business that set up the project, ed.) explains the central location of the wall painting: ‘Nobody wants Sanda to be forgotten. This will not happen soon with a wall painting in the heart of this city.’

Van Poucke disclosed that the project has been in the works for two years, but that they took their time to work on it in all serenity with friends and family. The university offered a wall of the PDS as a symbolic gesture.

KU Leuven has received a lot of criticism in the past, as it had only assigned the offenders community service. As expected, it did not come naturally for Sanda’s friends to work with the university on this project in the beginning.

Case Maclaim, a street artist, painted Sanda Dia on the wall. Maclaim is known for his depiction of hands, which he highlights in the artwork. The artist based his work on the well-known picture where Sanda rests his head in his hands.

It has been an emotional project for Maclaim: ‘He looks just like my wife’s nephew, it all feels very close’.