The parrot of Radinka, Amazona barbadensis, is a beautiful green and yellow bird. It can be found in northern Venezuela, on Isla Margarita, La Blanquilla, and Bonaire. Radinka always wondered why Bonaireans have a tradition of keeping this parrot as a pet.
Interestingly, her research led her directly to the Indigenous peoples, who domesticated these birds and kept them as a regenerative source of feathers.

This became even more meaningful because Radinka has a personal desire to learn more about her Indigenous heritage. It turns out that
her relationship with her family parrot, Kota Karina, is a practice deeply rooted in tradition. Radinka feeds her, strokes her head, sings with her, and in return, the parrot gives her beautiful feathers for her art. During her search to create something special with these feathers for this exhibition, Radinka came across a famous illustration of an Indigenous Venezuelan family titled “Famiglia Indiana Caraiba.” In the drawing, the man wears a feather headdress and holds a parrot in his hand.

Radinka also discovered that feather headdresses like these are often used throughout South America for initiation ceremonies, funerals, shamanic rituals, social visits, expressions of group identity, to mark different life stages, or as a symbol of political power. As soon as Radinka returned to live on her beloved island, she felt that a feather headdress was the perfect symbol to mark this new chapter in her life. At the same time, it is a way to celebrate her Bonairean culture and to honor her great-grandmother, who came from Puerto Cabello in northern Venezuela.