Telling stories with a link to memories, history, culture and identity connects the work of these two artists. They found a common source in the sound fragments that Wallrafen recorded in Curaçao in the year he became blind. These form the starting point for Osepa’s new work. He takes the sounds of 2004 to the island and looks for a new view of the cultural identity there, by sharing the sounds and having conversations with people who often have invisible perspectives. Perspectives that are underrepresented within the community. He translates the personal anecdotes into art. Sound appears to be the driving force behind memories of the Curaçao community, which are made visible in a layered installation with photos, films and sound.
Hannes Wallrafen plays an important role in Dutch photo history through his contribution to changes in documentary photography. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked as a classical social photographer; in the late eighties he developed into a director of images with an often magical slant. He moved from depicting events to imagining them. The decisive moment was not simply captured but deliberately created. The images were not ‘fictional dream pictures’ but carefully constructed stagings. Sometimes the result of an assignment, sometimes inspired by literature and often the bearer of implicit commentary on world events. In the spring of 2004, Wallrafen became virtually blind due to a hereditary disease. Since then he has discovered the world of sound.
Wallrafen and Osepa: Saw a Breath, Heard a Light
Apr 25 – Jun 30, 2024
CBK Zuidoost
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
