“This is the jack for my father’s Chevrolet Impala. I was born in 1966, the Chevy was from 1969-1970. After he bought a new car the Chevrolet stayed in our garden for years. It deteriorated a lot. My father didn’t want to give the car to the Wabi Club either (the oldest vintage automobile club in the Caribbean). It stayed right where it was, rotted, until I investigated it to see if there was anything of importance. Back then I used car parts to make art. I thoroughly went through the spare tire compartment until I found the jack.”

“My dad collected cars and parked them side by side in the garden. Mopeds, carrying bikes, Daf, Buick, Cadillac. I always had a feel for things from the past but I couldn’t convince everyone to preserve the objects and not throw them away.” Many people in Curaçao love fixing cars and playing with them. When they leave old cars in the yard, often they have a plan to repair the vehicle or repurpose some of the drivetrain for something else. Sometimes the project has to sit for a while because of time, motivational or financial factors. Sometimes the project is never executed and the car just stays there.

(This has been told to us via a whatsapp audio message, a popular way of communicating for Curaçaoans.)