Visual artist Avantia Damberg (1977) lives and works on Curaçao. In her work she focuses on the Curaçao culture and makes it recognizable. History is an important part of this. And Damberg gives it a new look with materials from nature and from everyday life. She is known to the public for, among other things, the colored steps of Otrobanda stairs in Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao.
For Our Colonial Heritage, she has created a meter-sized installation consisting of three parts: ceramics, textiles and wood. In doing so, she draws attention to the indigenous population of Curaçao, to the transition from enslaved people to free people and to the resilience that only makes Curaçaoans grow. The work is in the room Fight the power in the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. A room that focuses on the fact that people have rebelled against the colonizing powers from the very beginning. With armed resistance, demonstrations, art, books, language.
About the installation Curaçao Layers
Curaçao Layers of Damberg is made up of three parts. The work starts at the beginning: Part 1 ceramics as a link between then and now.
For that reason, a recurring subject in the artist's work is the graphic design in ceramics of the indigenous population of Curaçao: the Caquetíos. And the stamp they left on the civilization of Curaçao when the Spaniards come. “Ceramics are a sustainable material that can go into the future for many years to come. But that also goes back thousands of years in the past.” The first part of the artwork is therefore the graphic design of the Caquetíos on their ceramic vases and bowls, made from shards. The decorations are painted with iron oxide. Material they also used, especially the pre-Caquetíos people who made petroglyphs.
Part 2 consists of textiles referring to freedom and possession.
This volume contains the Manumission Letters, printed on cloth. On the one hand, such a letter was the document with which you proved to be a free man or woman. On the other hand, such a letter was also the tangible proof that you were once property, and it turns out that you can still be a human being from July 1, 1863 when slavery was abolished in 'the west'. The chosen manumission letters come from the National Archives in Curaçao. The letters contain surnames of the former slave owners and enslaved persons who are common in Curaçao today.
Part 3: wood as a sign of flexibility and strength.
This part consists of the first and last stanza of the national anthem of Curaçao. Those are usually sung, the abbreviated version. Damberg: “If there is something where we all agree on as a people, it is in the music and then especially in this song, a song of the people. It always makes me emotional, even though it is played on the radio every day at noon, I don't really know why”. The lyrics are still very uplifting and Damberg has previously brought the national anthem into her work. This part is made of wood. “Because wood is a material that is flexible and can only become more beautiful and powerful after many treatments. This fits in with the development of the population of Curaçao.”