This installation simulates a domestic wall built with Delft Blauwe cracked ceramic pieces, on which I painted logos of Venezuelan food products. A nod to the tourist souvenir culture in the Dutch Caribbean, where products that look local are actually manufactured in China or Latin America.

For several years, Venezuela experienced the phenomenon of bachaqueo, a practice of the informal economy that consisted in the resale of products with regulated prices or their double nationalization through smuggling. This situation made products inaccessible to local consumers due to high prices or shortages.

Given the lack of products on Venezuelan shelves, many citizens began to travel periodically to Aruba (where they could find them) to make their purchases, using foreign currency regulated by the national government for tourist trips. This, in turn, generated new informalities in the island’s economy, such as the purchase and resale of products for currency exchange

This work also reflects on the migratory crisis of Venezuelans in the Caribbean region, especially in Aruba and Curaçao, due to their geographic proximity.

The title refers to the Treaty of Westphalia, an international law agreement that established the concept of nation-states and put an end to the 80 Years’ War between Spain and the Netherlands, which revolved around the sharing of lands and resources in the overseas territories of the New World.