4 October - launch publication & performance
(more information will follow soon)

During the centuries of colonial rule, numerous colonial ships from Hoorn sailed out to conquer land and people, amassing territory for colonial expansion, trade routes, and spices. Hira’s project Gazing Back at Hoorn starts with archival research on these historical ship’s routes. It uncovers colonial remnants in the city, traces ship voyages, and explores topics such as the sea, the middle passage, and underground cemeteries. She seeks out the echoes of the voyages made; the ships that departed, those that returned and those that didn’t - with the ocean as protagonist and from the cosmological perspective of the southern hemisphere. In doing so, the artists brings these fragments back to current-day Hoorn.

During her residency, Hira will connect these threads by presenting the starry sky of the southern hemisphere on the chapel ceiling. By shifting the focus to the southern hemisphere, she challenges the prevailing northern perspective and reminds us that even our perspective on the position of the stars (then and now important for navigation at sea) depends highly on our geographic location. With the project, Hira encourages contemplation and offers cosmic wisdom as a counterpoint to colonizers’ conquests and annihilations.