Brazilian artist Danilo Oliveira shares a blog post about the floor mural he is producing during his Fresh Milk residency this November: “Utopian Geology Services” – The Cultural Geology of the Caribbean. See more below:

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“Utopian Geology Services” – The Cultural Geology of the Caribbean.

When I arrived in Barbados for my Fresh Milk residency, my proposal was to research and study the borders and identity relations present in Barbados and in the Caribbean. It is my first time in this part of the world, and so it’s been great to learn from each person that I meet. Some things surprised me, some things had a huge impact on my visions around ideas of belonging, colonialism and ancestral identity. At some point, I began to see the geology of Barbados as an important aspect of its development (as it is in any country). And so, in spite of the fact that Barbados and Brazil endured slavery for centuries, the post-colonial periods are very distinct. Maybe some of that could be related to the geological differences. Here in the Caribbean, I have been looking for traces of identity: Bajan? Caribbean? Part of the Americas? Afro-Caribbean? British? Little England?

I began to wonder how it would be if we changed something that is unchangeable, like geological aspects of the region. I’m calling this “Utopian Geology Services” – The Cultural Geology of the Caribbean. How would it be if the Caribbean islands were closer? How would it affect the history, if it had always been like this? What are the real distances in a world controlled by routes?