ESTRANGED ITEMS

ESTRANGED ITEMS RESPONDING TO ARCHIVO DE INDIAS

CAMERON FRAME HARSHA GORE JAMES HAMILTON RYAN HILLIER

Interacting with Panama through the medium of a digital archive of information situated in southern Spain provided initial thoughts and responses to the territory, and pulled into focus the complex geopolitical history of central America. Interfacing with this portal over several weeks brought to light a skewed representation of information surrounding Panama, shrouded in obscurity, thus seeding initial responses to the Archive. A striking lack of information recording Panama’s indigenous people, or life outside of colonial encampments demonstrated this institution presenting a ‘history of winners’, and insufficient evidence of the full societal picture in Central America. The collective response to this 500-year-old structure was it’s unsuitability for the modern day, and a necessity for radical change. By way of countering the Archive, a collection of abstract artefacts were created to encapsulate these feelings. The artefacts were subsequently curated into a photographic installation; a counter-piece to the Archivo de Indias.

Establishing order and structure, this piece provides a framework for the user to interact, and interrogate; inviting them to make connections between artefacts otherwise unseen, thus providing a broader picture than that of the digital archive. Through increased transparency towards the recording and presentation of historic materials, it is hoped a greater level of questioning will arise, aiding the archive in a progressive manner

ARTEFACT 01: SHROUDED HISTORIES Responding to the Archive’s disproportionate representation of colonial presence in Panama, this piece offers potential futures for the remnants of this history. The piece sees an unidentifiable artefact wrapped and encased in fabric, removing it from the visual foreground, whilst acknowledging its past form and presence, representing an imagined future for Panama.

ARTEFACT 02: CULTURAL SEDIMENTATION A landmass rich in cultural diversity and heritage, Panama remains poorly represented in 21st Century western culture, and the Archivo de Indias demonstrates this. This piece explores the way in which damage can evolve into an defining characteristic of a surface, as with the canal that now defines and economically feeds Panama. The textile medium used for this tapestry additionally draws focus on the constituent parts that are most heavily disrupted by these interventions.

ARTEFACT 03: FROM THE GROUND DOWN Despite centuries of societal development in Panama, the archive unsuccessfully represents this complexity, and conveys a surfacelevel, colonial dominant version of history. Through the medium of aggregate rich plaster casts, this sectional piece looks at the layers of history that have contributed to present-day Panama; and sheds light on the unsung constituents outside of the ‘history of winnners’.

Estranged Artefacts: Collective Responses to Archivo de Indias