THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY

About

For Naro Snackey's first solo exhibition in London a selection has been made from her oeuvre of the last three years. It was during this time that she started her research into what extent archives determine history. As archives often form the basis for scientific research into the past, she wondered whether an archive might narrow historic awareness. Is it at all possible to expose other histories that are not part of the canon?

The curator Christine van den Bergh is attracted to richlayering in Snackey's work. The artist studies her own cultural identity, her roots, and her personal, biased memories. Much of her work in the past years has been drawn from her personal photographic archive.The images evoked are often autobiographical, and represent important events and turning points in her Dutch East Indian family history, which she combines with autonomous, contrasting elements intervening with the photographic medium. In this quest, Van den Bergh recognised herself. She feels that identity is not a fixed statistic but rather an interaction with the other.

The title of the exhibition refers to the book The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley from 1953. In his book, the author analyses the constantly changing role of the past and how it shapes our lives. History is heritage that nourishes us and, at the same time, weighs us down. Based on her personal engagement, Snackey aims to transform this concept into a wider perspective.

The exhibition consists of wooden collages with black and white photographic portraits from the artist's family archives, combined with manipulated historic portraits of important world leaders. This is supported by a video recording of a recent performance in Burma. Snackey is interested in the combination of these elements, and how these three different layers interact.

Naro Snackey [1980, Bonn] studied at the Art Academy in Den Bosch NL. From 2004 to 2005 she was artist-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam NL, and at LIAp, Leipzig, Germany 2009.

Christine van den Bergh is an independent curator who develops exhibition-concepts, and realises the coordination of art projects. She has been working as a freelance consultant/employee for a range of art institutions since 2000, and has been employed as the artistic director of the outLINE Foundation, a contemporary non-profit art centre in Amsterdam, since 2006.

Please note that this exhibition will be open Friday - Sunday 12-6pm only.