To Sea at The Crossroads
Lisandro Suriel, Justin Reinir Croes, Ada M. Patterson, Sondi
10.14.2023 - 01.07.2024
With the question 'where do we come from and what can we remember?' photographer and artist Lisandro Suriel from Sint Maarten conducts artistic research into the cultural history of his community. The colonial period and transatlantic slave trade play an important role in this, but Suriel goes back further. It is precisely the forgotten past before the beginning of this period that he investigates and wants to bring back to life through his photo works with its own strong visual language, full of magic, rituals and stories. His work and research forms the core of the exhibition 'To Sea at The Crossroads', supplemented with work by three kindred artists: Justin Reinier Croes (1990, Aruba), Ada M. Patterson (1994, Barbados) and Sondi (1993, Cameroon ). The exhibition 'To Sea at The Crossroads' explores how the world can be imagined before colonialism, a time in which the mystery of nature was central, a time without Eurocentric borders, a time of magic and ritual. Using various media such as photography, video, sculpture and painting, the artists depict a crossroads where past and present come together and in which Suriel's work serves as a common thread connecting the different stories.
