Mester Blousé
Kevin Osepa
Two mothers are speaking about ones beautiful looking baby: "You have to rub him with laundry blue; "Mester blousé” she said. With real indigo laundry bluing compound.
- Brenneker, P (1975). Part 7 Sambumbu Willemstad, Curacao
In 'Mester blousé’ the photographer Kevin Osepa examines how his identity was formed by the spiritual beliefs, rituals, and culture of his island. His emigration from Curaçao to the Netherlands at a young age has changed him not only as a person but also as a visual artist; the shift in his view of the world was tremendous.
Within this project, he uses the symbolism of the culture of his island that he grew up with to tell the history of him and his family. As a man of color who grew up in a religious and ‘brua practicing' environment. Whilst exploring intense themes such as colonialism, the afrocaribiën, diaspora and religion, 'Mester blousé tells a story where reality and magic can coexist without prejudice or interference.
* Brua is officially described as a collective word for spirituality, superstition, charlatanism, spirit leather, scaremongering and rituals with secrecy. Which is mainly practiced on Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire.
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Kevin Osepa is a photographer born and raised on the island of Curaçao. His work revolves around his identity and the identity of Afro-Caribbean youth in a post-colonial world. The visuals he creates and the stories he tells are highly influenced by his youth. While the themes he explores are autobiographical, his work can also serve as a quasi-anthropological study. Using different experimental techniques, he creates colourful visual stories that explore themes such as religion, African diaspora, and family.
Since graduating his work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including Steenbergen Stipendium, Volkskrant Beeldende Kunst prijs, Unseen photography festival, FOAM Editions - as well as publications such as the Trouw newspaper, Volkskrant Magazine and Unseen Magazine. He was also nominated for multiple awards - in 2018, he became the youngest person ever to be nominated for the prestigious Volkrant fine art prize.