Re-remembering Saint Barthélemy

Exhibition & project – project leader & curator
Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm
Afro-Swedish History Week, 2020

Re-remembering Saint Barthélemy was an exhibition and research-based project exploring how design can be used to create collective memory and remembrance. Lead and curated by Yanina Casanova, the project brought together students from Konstfack’s Graphic Design and Illustration program to investigate how a Memorial Day could be designed for the victims of the Swedish slave trade in the Caribbean, which formally ended on October 9, 1847.

Working with the collections and archival material of the Museum of Ethnography, the students developed proposals for a commemorative day that addressed absence, silence, and historical responsibility. The exhibition presented these design responses as tools for reflection, remembrance, and public dialogue.

The project was presented during Afro-Swedish History Week at the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm — a platform that Yanina Casanova also initiated. Through its educational and curatorial framework, the project positioned design and cultural production as active agents in decolonial processes and the reconstruction of historical narratives.

The project received national media attention, including interviews with Yanina Casanova on Kulturnyheterna and Swedish national radio P1.

Role: Project leader & curator

Collaboration: Catherine Anyango Grünewald course leader Graphic Design & Illustration, Konstfack - university of arts, craft and design.
Participants: Students from Konstfack, Graphic Design & Illustration
Venue: Museum of Ethnography, Stockholm