How Do We Remember?How Do We Remember?

The legitimacy of archives and how this relates to our memories, which are incredibly ambiguous in how reliable they can be, is an important dialogue to have. Especially now that we are engaging in dialogues that contest 'official' narratives, which at the end of the day are based on and reinforce old colonial ideologies. It invites the audience to reconsider the nature of archives, the stories they tell, and the power dynamics that shape our understanding of history, emphasizing the value of inclusive and participatory approaches to archival practices.

How Do We Remember? stretches the meaning of what an archive can be, questioning how the visibility of different types of archives influences the way we value them and which stories receive recognition and equity. It investigates whether this process can be seen as a form of research, examining what the differences and similarities in these stories reveal about our understanding of the past and present.

Through the works of visual artists from Aruba and Curaçao, it challenges dominant narratives about places, objects, and histories, moving beyond canonical storytelling to include personal memories that connect to collective memory, treating them as equally important as the prevailing narratives.

In collaboration with the Network for Archives of Design and Digital Culture (NADD), curator Gyonne Zafira did research into the archives at Allard Pierson and Beeld en Geluid, studying colonial heritage in the form of prints, books and videos. She then asked four contemporary artists and designers from the Caribbean diaspora to recontextualise some of these works by diving deep into their memories, family stories, traditions, and anecdotes. They question the access, or lack thereof, to sources of archival importance.

How Do We Remember? is a project that engages with questions about the production, preservation, promotion, framing, and accessibility of institutionalized narratives versus real but unofficial sources.

• Participating artists: Serana Angelista, Riangelo Christie, Sergio Maduro and Joseph Maduro, and Ken Wolff
• Curator: Gyonne Zafira.
• Producer: Nagila Muller
• Designer: Zaira Pourier

Curator Gyonne Zafira chose a ‘fragmented’ approach to the spaces of the exhibition, where the works will be shown in alignment with the spirit of conversations that were had in the research phase. Here it became very clear that all of these different institutional archives are most of the time very out of reach for the communities they seem to 'talk' about.

In the space of Nieuwe Instituut (The Netherlands), visual artist Serana Angelista confronts us with the question: how do you look at your familial archive? Their work Promised Land, invites us to rethink and reevaluate what we consider valuable, tangible, real, or important in our familial archives: stories told during family reunions, traditions passed on in the family, or old pictures in family albums.

In the spaces of Archivo Nacional Aruba, the works of Riangelo Christie, Sergio and Joseph Maduro, and Ken Wolff, explore the history of their localities.

How do we Remember? is an exhibition created in collaboration between the Network for Archives of Design and Digital Culture and Counter/Narratives.

The exhibition will take place at Nieuwe Instituut from June 20 to October 6th, and at Archivo Nacional Aruba from July 5th.

How Do We Remember? is a collaboration that provokes you to question what we understand as a legitimate archive: how should it look, feel, and sound?

The meaning of the word ‘Archive’ is stretched and reimagined on all levels of this collaboration, from the curator to participating institutions and artists. Each artist approached the archives that were available to them and used them as a sounding board, contesting on different ways and measures.

For example - Serana Angelista’s work is based on their family (portrait) archives weaving natural materials as shells to guide the public in looking at contexts instead of the face in the pictures. What emotion does the context elicit? Does it elicit ideas of belonging or displacement? If so, why is that?

Riangelo Christie created an immersive experience that takes the viewer on a journey of different religious relics, ideas, and cultures of Curaçao (Diaspora) but also specifically the Zikinza archive. Through different types of media, Riangelo weaves it all together and creates a full experience.

Ken Wolff took the approach of a more abstract contemporary visual art route where he plays with known textures, visuals, and depth through media depiction in the historical and contemporary context of Aruba. His work is a relation to and a contestation towards the works initially found in the archive of Beeld en Geluid.

Sergio Maduro and Joseph Maduro are a duo of grandson and grandparent where Sergio focuses on the embodiment of the stories through his grandpa’s narration of the beginning of the 20th century during the heightened industrialization period of Aruba. Their work is a relation to and a contestation towards the work of ‘Aruba in de branding’ by ‘Polygoon Profilti Productie’