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Castle of Innocence

‘Castle of Innocence’ is set in the Children’s Museum in Costa Rica, which is housed in a former prison. By working with archive material from the prison period, staged reproductions of the prison’s cells and symbolic objects from (the vicinity of) the museum, Joel Jimenez questions the historical use of images as a representation of reality. The part our memory plays in reconstructing the past and the influence of that past on our relationship with reality are central to this.

The project tells a non-linear story to confront the impressions of trauma and violence from the building’s past with the current, light-hearted context of the museum. This leaves room for new interpretations, in which apparent repetitions and contradictions emerge, the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to dissolve, and a renewed sense of identity emerges. The series exudes an ominous atmosphere that comes with sharing classified information and creating myths.

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