Skye Maule-O’Brien & Mirjam Linschooten:
Breath & Breeze: Tongueless whispers of the wind
· Residency: March – October 2025
· Meet & Greet: 27 March, 4–5 pm
· Opening: 31 October 2025
Breath & Breeze: Tongueless whispers of the wind, looks at the commodification of wind in the Caribbean and how this colonial legacy continues to exert influence today.
The Dutch played an extensive role in shaping colonial rule, slavery, trade, labour, and the plantation economies through the use of wind technology. For example, at one time Barbados had more than 500 windmills, more than any other country besides the Netherlands. The skeletal remains of these windmills are part of the visual landscape of the island, reminding us of something that is supposed to be long over and done with, but which lingers unresolved.
Skye Maule-O’Brien and Mirjam Linschooten will bring this research to Hoorn, to collectively engage and critically examine its local colonial history: during the 17th century sawmills in North Holland, powered by the wind, accelerated ship building industries in the Netherlands and increased the production of ships, which sailed out overseas, including to the Caribbean, driven by the trade winds.
During their fellowship/residency, they will conduct field research, organise community conversations, as well as visits to locations in and around Hoorn, including the historic port and (disappeared) windmills. On October 31st they will present their research at Hotel Maria Kapel.
This research project will culminate with a publication, published in collaboration with HumDrumPress in 2026.
Mirjam Linschooten is a Dutch visual artist living and working in Amsterdam. She completed her MA at the Dutch Art Institute (NL) and BFA at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy (NL). Her multidisciplinary practice is concerned with how cultural heritage institutions represent history, exploring tactics of representation, forms of collecting and aesthetics of display. Her work has been exhibited at institutions internationally, including Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (Leiden), De Appel (Amsterdam), Stroom Den Haag, Cemeti Institute for Art and Society (Yogyakarta), Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Vicki Myhren Gallery (Denver), the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver).
Skye Maule-O’Brien is an educator and researcher. She often works collaboratively, combining theory, narrative, and visual methods to explore intimacy and vulnerability as transformative pedagogical tools of social and environmental change. Her PhD in Education from York University (Toronto) focused on the development of a theory and method called intimate pedagogy, and included an academic exchange at the University of the West Indies (Barbados). She holds a BFA in Art History, with a minor in Adult Education, and a Master’s in Educational Studies from Concordia University (Montreal). Currently working at Willem de Kooning Academy (Rotterdam), she leads interdisciplinary pedagogical projects and decolonial shifts in curriculum, and is a research fellow in Social Practices.