My work for a number of years now has been revolving around the issue of Memory. I am interested in the histories embedded in things, symbols and events. The "GO RAY" project deals with one part of my memory bank, i.e. slavery. The project in short consists of:
1- Collecting a great number of anonymous shoes from the streets in Brazil (one of the destinations during the slave trade).
2- Including the shoes in an environment that was mounted in the Brazilian town of Salvador de Bahia (in September 2001). The environment work comprises a video (with images of Goree and of travels) a boat filled with the anonymous (yet full of memories of the people who wore them, of the places they "went") shoes. The boat and the shoes and the video take us to another journey.
3- Possibly a show of the work on the island of Goree (Senegal) . Thus, taking "back" to Africa and the point of departure, memories of the journey.
4- Possibly a show of the work in Amsterdam (and the city of Nantes) in order to recreate, the triangle voyage, in my own way.
5- Possibly a show of the work in Santa Monica (18th Street Arts Complex)...
It should be noted however, that the shoes collected, do not belong only to former slaves but to people of all races, social classes, works of life, that were brought together, because/thanks to slavery.
Of course, the whole event is documented with video, opening another avenue for possible reflections and work: the search for the shoes on the streets, the installation in Salvador de Bahia, the installation in Goree and the "transits" in Amsterdam.
