The island of Saba keeps countless stories among its people, of past and present times intertwine. People from different parts of the world have come together to form a very special and unique community.

In the context of the construction of Saba’s New Fire Station, the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf commissioned Brazilian-Spanish artist Sara Ramo to produce a commemorative public artwork for the site.

This artwork will belong to the island of Saba.

It will be made of thousands of little affective objects that will occupy the gaps in between the rocks of the top layer of the fire station’s outer wall so that it can be appreciated by both islanders and visitors.

How?

We invite all children, teenagers, adults, and the elderly, to contribute a small object, souvenir, or made-up craft that will be integrated into the wall. The idea is to create a collection of intimate and collective memories that range from small archaeological remains and old memorabilia of past times to everyday trinkets and charms that hold meaning for each person.

Until December 5„ anyone can take a small item to one of the gathering points, the Queen Wilhelmina Library or the Child Focus Center.

In school, students are encouraged to bring a small object from home that is related to their own experiences or their family’s history and share the story of the collected object with their classmates and teacher. The objects presented in class will be collected by the teachers and integrated into the final monument.

We are also proposing different activities supported by various institutions on the island, encouraging conversations about personal stories and the collective history of the island of Saba. Stay tuned at https://facebook.com/sararamo to find out about them and participate!

The final monument will be inaugurated on the holiday of December 15th with a big community party with music, drinks, and food, in the parking lot of the New Fire Station at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport.

So, come share a little piece of your memories and affections, and let’s live together the experience of time!

Sara Ramo

About Sara Ramo

Sara Ramo (of Hispanic-Brazilian origin) was born in Madrid,

1975, and currently lives in Sao Paulo. Articulated in different formats -primarily installation, video, sculpture, and collage-  Sara Ramo works directly with the elements that define immediate daily life in order to reconfigure them into strange and foreign presences. The alteration of the natural order of things is not a simple formal exercise, as this represents, for the artist, the possibility to create new structures of sensitivity. Ramo participates in a vast cultural heritage that has confronted the utilitarian and scientific perspective of the contemporary world, incorporating notions from mysticism, mythology, and magic, the artist questions the relationship between human beings and objects that are only determined by utility. Fracturing this paradigm, new narrative possibilities emerge, involving spatial and temporal consequences.

Her work has been shown at renowned institutions such as Museo Nacional Reina Sofia, Spain; Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Mexico;  Parque Lage, Brazil; Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Russia; EAC – Espacio de Arte Contempora- neo, Uruguay; Astrup Fearnley Museet, Norway; Mac Lyon – Musee d Art Contemporain, France; lnstituto Tomie Ohtake, Brazil; CA2M, Spain, and in international exhibitions such as the Bienal de La Habana; MAM-Sao Paulo; Sharjah Biennal; Sao Paulo Biennial; Bienal do Mercosul; and the Venice Biennale.