Mostly known for his sculptural assemblages, Daniel Lind-Ramos stages the syncretic, resilient presence of Afro-descendant and Taíno culture in the Caribbean with the use of quotidian and discarded objects such as labouring tools, musical instruments, and construction and natural materials. His artistic practice references the creative expressions and passed-down beliefs and traditions of his community in the coastal area of Loíza, Puerto Rico, addressing their ecological and socio-economic context, like in Maria-Maria (2019)—named after the virgin and the 2017 hurricane—as well as their powerful but often invisibilized histories—like in the series Vencedor, 1797 (2017–20), pointing to the year Black Puerto Ricans contributed to resisting a British invasion. For Tirailleurs: Trials and Tribulations, the artist builds a new anti-monumental work, honouring those from Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana who fought and worked in the First and Second World Wars. With his piece Re-inventario de la desmemoria (2026), Lind-Ramos juxtaposes the significance of their contribution to liberation and decolonization with the subsequent maintenance required in lack of public awareness, historical records, and remembrance. The assemblage puts together tools, everyday elements, and symbols related to the labour of Tirailleurs of all genders forced into war and those who joined voluntarily, to those who cared for the wounded, who provided needed supplies such as rum, sugar, or bananas to those who extracted resources from the area to make weapons. Each component of the art-work’s inventory poetically amplifies the voices of the Caribbean Tirailleurs with the distinctive timbre and brightness of cultural resistance to the colonial, imperialist, and supremacist theatres. 

Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), co-produced by Daniel Lind-Ramos and HKW, 2026

Work in the exhibition: Re-inventario de la desmemoria (2026), metal tube, coconut shell, wooden boxes, small cloth bags, textile, wooden barrel, plastic, nurse’s cap, army bag, boots, binoculars, burlap sack, rope, cooking pot, trumpet, machetes, 267 × 244 × 244 cm. Courtesy of the artist and The Ranch