Tour Leopold II, 2018Publication
Envelopes with washer and string: 180 gm2 cardboard, 114 x 162 mm, handmade silk screen printing Brochure: off-set print on paper color ivory, 29.7 x 42 cm (open), English Post-cards: 5 units, couché paper 300 gm2, Matte finish on one side Published by the artist: Brussels, 2018 Limited edition: 50 copies |
The Tour Leopold II was the starting point of a two year research on Belgian colonialism and the historic remnants still found in the city of Brussels, but broadening its reflection to a colonial amnesia that pervades both Europe and its symbolic capital. In the public space, this heritage is reflected on monuments, buildings, parks and avenues that work as articulators of a glorious narrative of colonialism diffused in the media, educational curricula and to the world through tourism.
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The research started with the mapping of the monuments that glorify the achievements of the former colonizers and culminated in the publication of a 3 parts pseudo-touristic guide of the city: 1) an envelope that mimes confidential dossiers (creating an experience of unveiling a well-kept secret); 2) A pamphlet that maps and contextualizes sightseeing spots with the corresponding absent information 3) a group of post-cards that document different situations where this heritage is celebrated and confronted: these being born already as historic documents.
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Decolonizing our cities is a collective process. Comments, suggestions, ideas? Please get in touch.
Guide available by demand at: danielcabral700@gmail.com and also at the WIELS Bookshop. |