Around the Clay - The Netherlands

In response to Cape Verdean community members’ wish to practise their ceramic tradition again during celebrations marking fifty years of Cape Verdean independence, a ceramicist travelled from Cape Verde to the Netherlands. With his guidance, the tradition was remembered and collectively resumed. Those involved included community members who were among the first Cape Verdeans to settle in the Netherlands seventy-five years ago.

As part of À Volta do Barro (Around the Clay), textiles served as the surface on which all ceramic processes took place. Clay from Dutch soil was worked directly on the fabric according to the Cape Verdean tradition, in which women play a central role in its practice and continuity. Traces of clay, earth pigments and imprints left by those involved accumulated on the textiles, forming a material archive that makes visible how the tradition is remembered and continued within the Cape Verdean diaspora in the Netherlands.