The ART RAP Foundation shared a press release on “Marooning Practices,” the final exhibition of the artist residency entitled Echoes of the Islands: From Stories to Archives. The exhibition will open on Friday, March 13, at 7:30pm, at the Esquire Building, Bernard van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat 67, San Nicolas, Aruba. Featured artists include artist-in-residence Jafet Cruz Cordero (Puerto Rico) and Raily Yance (Colombia–Venezuela), alongside invited Aruban artists Alida Martinez, Natusha Croes, Olga van Bochove, and Velvet Zoé Ramos. The event is free and open to the public. [Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.]
Description: “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 Jafet 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. [. . .]
For more information, please contact: Art Rap Foundation at artrapfoundation@gmail.com or by phone at +297 560 2727.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/61578946222727/posts/press-releasemarooning-practicesfinal-exhibition-of-the-artist-residencyechoes-o/122145301424964874 and https://www.facebook.com/61578946222727/posts/art-rap-foundation-announcementart-rap-foundation-announces-the-selected-artists/122142536024964874
Also see https://telearuba.aw/article/final-exhibition-of-the-artist-residency-echoes-of-the-islands-from-stories-to-archives and https://www.soualiganewsday.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=64670:final-exhibition-of-the-artist-residency-echoes-of-the-islands-from-stories-to-archives
Follow on Instagram: Jafet Cruz Cordero (@00jcruz00), Raily Stiven Yance (@raily_yance_), and Velvet Zoé Ramos @artvelvetzr
The ART RAP Foundation shared a press release on “Marooning Practices,” the final exhibition of the artist residency entitled Echoes of the Islands: From Stories to Archives. The exhibition will open on Friday, March 13, at 7:30pm, at the Esquire Building, Bernard van de Veen Zeppenfeldstraat 67, San Nicolas, Aruba. Featured artists include artist-in-residence Jafet
