The starting point of Solano’s piece is the Muhammad Ali poem Me/We, a two-word text, open to multiple interpretations, that the boxing legend came up with when addressing a group of Harvard students in 1975. Like the poem, you can also view Shertise Solano's work in different ways: both as a celebration of community spirit and the collective on the one hand, and of pride and gratitude for individual talents and opportunities on the other. We ask her a few questions abut the piece.

Tell us about yourself.

I was born in Rotterdam and grew up in Delfshaven, a place where I still live with love. I graduated from the theatre school in Utrecht and worked as an actor and theatre maker for many years. A while ago, I made the switch to visual art, and a lot has happened since then. This year I was accepted for the Master of Fine Arts programme at the Piet Zwart Institute here in Rotterdam.

What’s the story behind your work on the display screens of Rotterdam’s metro stations?

Muhammad Ali’s poem conveys an important message for our own time, in which increasing divisions are becoming more visible at the same time as a growing sense of mass solidarity and togetherness. For me, his words Me/We connect the individual with the collective, making ‘I’ and ‘we’ one.