Interview: Jeroen Smeets Shares the Story Behind The Jaunt, the Collaborative Travel Project Sending Artists Around the World

Photo by Andrea Wan during her trip to Nepal. All images shared with permission

In a new interview supported by Colossal Members, Jeroen Smeets dives into the story behind The Jaunt, a travel project that he founded in 2013. Since then, the project has sent more than 70 artists to new destinations around the globe—locations are wide-ranging, spanning from Helsinki to Los Angeles to Caye Caulker, Belize—with the goal of producing a single, hand-pulled screenprint.

We try not to guide or give too much structure for their trip. And this is what I think makes this project unique. Usually, artists travel to set up exhibitions, work on a specific project, paint murals, but rarely are they going to a place with the sole purpose of finding new inspiration.

In this conversation with Colossal editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson, Smeets recounts The Jaunt’s first-ever collaboration, some of the surprising experiences to come out of the artists’ excursions, and what’s next for the ongoing project.