Articles
Final Exhibition of the Artist Residency Echoes of the Islands: From Stories to Archives
Art Rap Foundation is proud to present Marooning Practices, the final exhibition of the artist residency Echoes of the Islands: From Stories to Archives. The exhibition will open on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 PM at the Esquire Building, Bernard van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat 67, San Nicolas, Aruba. The event is open to the general public and admission is completely free.
Marooning Practices brings together resident and local artists whose contemporary practices engage with freedom not as a fixed historical narrative, but as an active and evolving condition. Rooted in the context of San Nicolas — a post-oil, migrant city shaped by layered histories and multiple communities — the exhibition explores processes of re-signifying slavery-related memories beyond institutional and colonial frameworks.
The residency welcomed Jafer Cruz Cordero (Puerto Rico) and Raily Yance (Colombia–Venezuela), whose research-driven practices engaged directly with archives, lived experiences, and the social fabric of Aruba. Their works are presented alongside invited Aruban artists Alida Martinez, Natusha Croes, Olga van Bochove, and Velvet Zoé Ramos, generating a dynamic dialogue between international and local perspectives.
Curated by Nelson Gonzalez (Aruba), with curatorial advisor Gerardo Zavarce (Dominican Republic) and guest curator David Guerra (Puerto Rico), the exhibition foregrounds non-extractive methodologies grounded in presence, dialogue, and shared agency. The works activate archives and community knowledge to question polarized historical narratives and propose alternative ways of relating to memory, territory, and belonging.
Marooning Practices positions art as a space for autonomy, reflection, and contemporary forms of collective imagination within the broader context of historical repair and re-interpretation.
This project is made possible with the generous support of Cultuurfonds Caribisch Gebied (CCG) through the DNB Fonds, VNO – Vertegenwoordiging van Nederland in Aruba, the Mondriaan Fonds, and Art Rap Foundation.
For further information, please contact:
Art Rap Foundation
artrapfoundation@gmail.com



