When Our Rivers Meet (2024)
Drawing on research into New-York Historical’s vast Museum and Library collections, Beatrice Glow reckons with the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam from local and global perspectives. Working in conversation with a group of culture bearers, artists, and scholars whose heritages were impacted by the Dutch colonial enterprise, Glow is creating a series of seven parade float maquettes that envision an alternative commemoration. The small VR-sculpted and 3D-printed sculptures will be complemented by Glow’s interpretations of decorative arts collection objects, such as embroidered textiles and gilded baby rattles that reflect ideas of social and cultural power. Organized by Rebecca Klassen, curator of material culture, New-York Historical Society
Project participants: Raul Balai, Tecumseh Ceaser, Deborah Jack, Nancy Jouwe, Chief Vincent Mann, Michaeline Picaro Mann, Wim Manuhutu, Brent Stonefish, Teresa Vega
“Glow takes on the complex and well-hidden clonial history of New York City and the horrors of Dutch colonial enterprises with sky humor, incredible craft, and most importantly with active collaborations with descendants of the indigenous people whose communities and cultures were subject to the crimes of Dutch extractive and settler colonialism. And she does this in an institution that for many years stood as the bastion of the old Dutch New York elite. ”
Watch a video from the exhibition about how Beatrice Glow uses virtual reality sculpting to research and create the parade float maquettes featured in the exhibition.
Where Our Rivers Meet (excerpt)
2024, Beatrice Glow, concept and 3D modeling, Alexandre Girardeau, technical and art direction, Pauchi Sasaki, music, digital video, Runtime 8:36
Inspired by Glow’s time spent in the New-York Historical Society’s Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, this video travels from an encounter with a paper peepshow to a vision of collective commemoration. Shot in a virtual environment, this video incorporates the 3D models that Glow sculpted in VR to create the collaborative parade float maquettes.
Inspired by a collections visit to The New York Historical during an artist residency, where artist Beatrice Glow studied 19th–20th century tunnel books—an early form of virtual reality in which an accordion-like structure unfolds into a sculptural book revealing a world within—Glow created her own version that imagines an alternative commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (present-day New York).
This artist book is the result of multi-year dialogues and collaborations with nine local and global culture bearers whose heritages—Northeastern Indigenous, African diaspora, Surinamese, Dutch Caribbean, and Indonesian—were shaped by Dutch colonialism. Following extensive listening sessions, Glow used virtual reality sculpting to create seven 3D models of parade-float maquettes that reflect these cultural perspectives. The models were then 3D printed as physical sculptures and also animated in a video filmed within a virtual environment.
This limited edition of paper tunnel books was made with the support of Jakari on the occasion of the exhibition Beatrice Glow: When Our Rivers Meet (2024) at The New York Historical.
Inspired by a collections visit to The New York Historical during an artist residency, where artist Beatrice Glow studied 19th–20th century tunnel books—an early form of virtual reality in which an accordion-like structure unfolds into a sculptural book revealing a world within—Glow created her own version that imagines an alternative commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam (present-day New York).
This artist book is the result of multi-year dialogues and collaborations with nine local and global culture bearers whose heritages—Northeastern Indigenous, African diaspora, Surinamese, Dutch Caribbean, and Indonesian—were shaped by Dutch colonialism. Following extensive listening sessions, Glow used virtual reality sculpting to create seven 3D models of parade-float maquettes that reflect these cultural perspectives. The models were then 3D printed as physical sculptures and also animated in a video filmed within a virtual environment.
This limited edition of paper tunnel books was made with the support of Jacques Alexandre on the occasion of the exhibition Beatrice Glow: When Our Rivers Meet (2024) at The New York Historical.
Relevant links
New-York Historical newsletter announcement and Letter from the President
Blog: New-York Historical’s Artist-in-Residence Beatrice Glow on Reimagining a Historic New York Parade
Audio Guide: Download the Bloomberg Connect App (available on iOS and Android), type in New York Historical Society in the search bar and the audio guide for “When Our Rivers Meet” will appear
Dutch Culture USA’s Future 400 Initiative
Short documentary film by Bureau NY on the Dutch Consulate’s Future 400 initiative