"In 774 they crossed the street of Gibraltar to arrive in Europe. The first business (wo)men introduced rice, ginger, granaten pom, oranges, figs and sugar cane in Europe. The products became very popular especially in the Mediterranean countries"

What if colonization and transatlantic slave trade happened. And what if people don't judge on our sex and appearance but on the content of our mind. How would our world look like today? I made this series 'Europe' based on these thoughts in combination with my everlasting inspiration from the Renaissance in The Netherlands.

Many painters like Rembrandt inspired me to use and look at light as treasure from that time. With this in consideration, I let my mind go to imagine a world where Europe looked like in the Renaissance era when sex and race have been accepted as equal.

Last summer I bought an old scarf from an antique shop. I loved this piece of textiles that clearly have been used. It is a heavy scarf full of golden metal threads. After researching it I found out it originates from Java or west-Africa. It is a type of textile that is used for the upper-class women to express their pride and wealth.

In this narrative, I used symbols that the African content and the European content expresses. The cheetah for example express the animal wildlife in Africa and the table with fruit and jewellery symbolise the Dutch still-life painting from the 1600's. And the picture 'sisters' show the womanhood of protection, love and family.

More info: alicedekruijs.com