Sandim Mendes | Ami nsta li, nkre sta djuntu ku nhos
Artist: Sandim Mendes (1986)
Art work: Ami nsta li, nkre sta djuntu ku nhos (2024)
Translation: I am here, I want to be near you
Collection: de Doelen
Made possible by: CBK Rotterdam, BPD Cultuurfonds, the Mondriaan Fund and de Doelen Steunfonds
The Rotterdam-Cape Verdean artist Sandim Mendes works with photography, drawings, installations, performances and textiles. She is driven by the idea that the most personal is also the most universal. This idea is central to the textile and embroidery that she made especially for de Doelen. In doing so, she was inspired by the traditional Cape Verdean dance and song culture of the Batuku.
Two female dancers are surrounded by female musicians. This is a self-portrait: Sandim performs the dance herself and has performed the dance positions in a linocut. The dancers are placed against the backdrop of buildings and ships that depict a link between Rotterdam and Cape Verde. We also see flowers and animals – they symbolise the many generations of Cape Verdeans who live on in the artist.
‘In January 2021, de Doelen provided a stage for the Batuku dance,’ says Sandim. ‘I thought that was beautiful. My work connects to this. I want to create recognition and connection. I also hope that visitors and musicians at de Doelen will become acquainted with a culture that may still be new to them.’
Placed on a façade near the Artists Foyer, her work contrasts with that of the artist Kees Franse, who decorated the wall next to the foyer with a tile tableau during the construction of the Doelen. By connecting 'old' and 'new' work in this place, changes in de Doelen are made visible.
Sandim created this work in collaboration with Amy Suo Wu, Marie-Sarah Simon, Neels Smeekens and Genoveva Tavares Monteiro.
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