Liam Van Der Heever

VIRTUAL TOUR

ARTIST CATALOGUE

The Loudest Silence You May Ever Hear

The Trojan Horse massacre was a painful crime against the freedom of the oppressed during anti-apartheid protests on October 15th, 1985. The works being produced are objects quite commonly used and displayed within most or even all homes over the course of time. This object is a drawer that holds reclaimed characteristics of the Trojan horse to be used as an active site of resistance. This is upheld by using conventions of reclamation through tools of infiltration, empathy, and vulnerability, which combat as well as create empowerment against historic sites of oppression. The drawers act as objects who code-switch between two faces. 

The first face would be rooted in empowering resistance, validation of knowledge systems, and an embedded demand for empathic exchange. Whereas its second seeks to hold people with inherent colonial histories, privileges and social ignorance to face and take accountability for the prices we as people of colour have paid and still pay, as colonial histories continue to prosper in a perceived post-colonial society. The items within the drawers are carefully considered and chosen from my experiences within Coloured culture and the intersectionality found within historically shared oppressive realities. The ambiguous nature of the work hosts important validation for all people of colour and allows for non-exclusive unity amongst us all, showcasing the shared experiences within apartheid and how it is still evident for our generation in the “post” era. The items chosen focus on embedded histories, holding place in someone’s memory, rooted in stories of joy, celebration, hope, pain, trauma, longing, and grief. These Trojan horses seek to show what it means to endure the pains of the past and present. 

So, we may create meaningful progression through vulnerability and empathy for the youth and the old alike. Showcasing the strength that comes when we let ourselves feel, learn, heal and grow, in hope for positive change, as we stand together against the powers that be. We let them know, the drawers we’re put in aren't strong enough to keep us apart from ourselves and our togetherness. It used to be said, that we mustn’t let the sun catch us crying, but I believe that we deserve to hold our homes close and cry under the sun, as the night shouldn’t be the only place our communities feel safe to cry under. Our tears are filled with strength, and the more we come to understand, that vulnerability is the place we grow together the most, that’s when the grass in our yard, is as green as the grass in our neighbours. We are not just the things that have been placed in these drawers to be forgotten; we are the Trojan Horses ready to sit in your homes with the loudest silence you may ever hear.