Sandim Mendes

In the Blue Savannas of Memory 

Sandim Mendes created a room-within-a room for contemplation, composed of ten textiles woven at the TextielLab, a knitted and stuffed floor rug, and tufted floor elements shaped like balls with chains. The floor rug, filled with recycled yarn, provides a soft and inviting contrast to the hard museum floor. Mendes aimed to create a space that does not reference traditional contemplative settings such as churches or tents, inviting visitors to engage multiple senses at once, supported by a spoken-word artist. 

Faces of enslaved individuals appear on the walls, based on photographs from the book ‘Ooggetuigen van de Nederlandse slavernij’ (Eyewitnesses of Dutch Slavery), 2024 which were originally circulated without context. Mendes created linocuts from these images, which she then used to design the weaving patterns. The floor rug references lapis lazuli, while the tufted chain balls symbolise the traces of enslaved people still found on the ocean floor. Cotton, viscose, and wool were carefully selected: cotton for its historical connection to the transatlantic trade, viscose for its sheen representing hidden stories, and wool for its soft, voluminous tactility. Indigo serves as the unifying colour, carrying both historical significance and personal memories of Cape Verdean woven textiles. 

The installation encourages reflection on lost stories and histories and highlights the gaps in transmitted knowledge. The work measures approximately 4 metres wide, 6.5 metres deep, and 3 metres high, and will be exhibited at the TextielMuseum in 2027. 

Photography by Patty van den Elshout commissioned by TextielMuseum.

The collection assignments are made possible with financial support from the Mondriaan Fund.