Curaçao is a lovely island. We are happy here. Curaçao has a certain je ne sais quoi. It always had, probably since the Native Amerindians set foot on it.
Then there is the refinery, in the heart of the island.
A stinking sore, not only to the eyes.
A small group of powerful and wealthy people control the the island and preferably leave the status quo, as long as they and their families can continue business as usual. One economic pillar is the refinery. The government is also controlled by them, and does their bidding.
This in itself fuels our anger and hopelessness. Reminding us of the colonization then and the hidden neo-colonization now.
Our island yearns for a more independent mindset, a progressive one.
Shell, later ISLA, makes and breaks us. It determines for a large part, who we are today. It brought economic and educational progress that resulted in growth and richness in culture.
The refinery doesn't fit anymore. There is a time to come, and there is a time to go. That time has come. But then again, what comes tomorrow should not continue the colonization of our minds, being both the colonizer and the colonized, but should continue to grow us and bring us closer to the next generation of independent Yu di Kòrsou.
These tiles tell the story in stages, the life stages of the Yu di Kòrsou living with the refinery 100 years. Some tiles are chipped off at the corner and ‘fixed’ with gum. This is the exact thing that the refinery also tries to do: what is destroyed they try to patch up with money.