In the tourist trap of Amsterdam it’s easy to become disconnected from just about everything. But wherever she goes, Mercedes Azpilicueta feels ‘a need to connect to the history’ that has shaped the ground beneath her feet. ‘I like working with history, I get driven by, taken away by it,’ the Argentinian visual and performance artist explains.
And in the Dutch city which she made her home several years ago, one event in particular piqued her imagination. Its scenes are emblazoned across a huge collaged tapestry that was displayed at Edinburgh’s Collective art gallery this summer. The work shows crowds of women in antiquated dress, bearing baskets and brooms and looking at risk of plunging into Amsterdam’s canals as they march through the city.
