Ger Kerkhoven

Review of De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam

The Great Suriname Exhibition until March 1 in the...

The Great Suriname Exhibition until March 1 in the Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam. EVERY DUTCH, ANTILIAN, AFRICAN LIVE IN THE NETHERLANDS & SURINAMER SHOULD SEE THIS! The audiovisual presentations are beautiful and penetrating. The text on the cards is a deepening of that knowledge.
Pioneers of the Amazon, Sugar, coffee and cocoa: Suriname, On expedition: Maria Sibylla Merian, Trade, Maroons: against the stream, The power of Imagination, Soil treasures, Family stories, Welcome to Paramaribo are the chapters in a fascinating and colorful walk through time in the West. Our history of frog cheese from overseas history ends in a museum shop where even more depth (!) And fun, well-organized is offered. Satisfied and affected, we left the church on Dam Square. What a church is a wonderful medium to host exhibitions.
I am not going to subtitle all the photos I sent, but that golden gentleman is one of my heroes, namely Anton de Kom! I don't have Halsema / Pechtold syndrome, so I don't look away for abrasive and conflicting cultures and characters. Nor do I feel, as Syl Simons (BIJ1) wants to rub in, co-responsible for the slave trade. Yet, as the holocaust cannot be forgotten broadly, slavery, also outside of Amsterdam, should never be removed from our historical awareness! In fact, just like Leonard Balai suggests in the exhibition, it must nourish the protest against contemporary slavery!
More recently in history, Brunswijk is passing by in the Nieuwe Kerk, but De Grote Suriname Exhibition does not include the mythical spider Anansi and stalls (there was still room in the church) with deliciously scented food from Surinamese cuisine.
A Surinamese event without food is like a soccer field without goals, right ...? :-)