Seven hundred giant ants invade the Rijksmuseum: Rafael Gomezbarros' installation

The spaces of the Rijksmuseum, from floor to ceiling, will be invaded by seven hundred giant ants from September 30, 2022 to January 15, 2023. This is the installation Casa Tomada by Colombian artist Rafael Gomezbarros (Santa Marta, Colombia, 1972), through which he wants to draw attention to the themes of migration and forced displacement. The ants symbolize the industriousness and cooperative spirit of people forced to leave their homes due to political unrest, violence, economic conditions or climate change.

The installation is part of Crawly Creatures, the upcoming exhibition the Rijksmuseum is presenting on the changing perception and symbolism in the arts and sciences of small animals such as toads, snakes, ants and spiders. The exhibition was made possible by partial support from the Don Quixote Foundation through the Rijksmuseum Fund. “I use my work to evoke the image of travelers and immigrants in different cities. To achieve this I make interventions in public space, triggering interactions between the public, the place and Casa Tomada,” the artist comments. “I want in this way to start a conversation about sensitive topics such as uprooting and a new social order.”

Rafael Gomezbarros’ Casa Tomada installation includes hundreds of handmade ants, each nearly a meter long. The title refers to the 1946 short story of the same name by Argentine author Julio Cortázar. It tells the story of a house that is gradually conquered, prompting the occupants to flee. Migration and the forced displacement of human beings are at the center of this work. Gomezbarros’ installation is a response to Colombia’s civil war (1964-2016), which led to millions of Colombians having to leave their homes.

The artist fashioned the bodies of ants from casts of human skulls, which are covered in Colombian sand, and bound the casts together using cotton strips of T-shirts commonly worn by Colombian agricultural workers, a segment of the population severely affected by the conflicts that occurred in the country. The ants’ legs are made from the fragrant branches of the jasmine plant (during the civil war, jasmine branches were used to mask the smell of victims’ bodies).

Casa Tomada has been exhibited since 2008 in various countries and political contexts, and in various cities including Bógota, Manchester, Skåne, Santo Domingo, Santa Marta, and Linz.

Image: Rafael Gomezbarros, Casa Tomada (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum). Photo by Henk Wildschut

Seven hundred giant ants invade the Rijksmuseum: Rafael Gomezbarros' installation

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