As part of Black History Month Dutch Studies at Sheffield present a poster exhibition that centres on personal and real-life stories of people affected by Dutch colonial slavery. Rather than abstract concepts, these stories from Brazil, Suriname and the Caribbean, from South Africa and Asia tell the tales of persons who profited from colonial slavery, and who rose up against it. Each story has a link to an audio recording voiced by speakers who are connected to one of the ten people featured.
The ten posters were developed by the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, the Netherlands' main national museum. Previously, the exhibition travelled to the UN Head Quarters in New York and Geneva.
Integrated history
The focus is on slavery in the Dutch Empire spanning an era of 250 years. It was a time when people were reduced to property, to objects, to items in the accounts. The exhibition tells ten true stories from people who were involved in slavery in one way or the other. Ten personal stories about people who were enslaved, and people who kept slaves; about people who resisted, and people who were brought in slavery to the Netherlands.
The exhibition shows that colonial slavery was not 'an event that took place far away and long along'. Colonial slavery is an integral part of the history of the Netherlands, of the story the nation tells about itself. What goes for the Dutch story also goes for Britain, even for Sheffield. That is why we developed three additional panels to link the story of the Netherlands to our context in Sheffield. We are grateful for Dr Jenny Kirton (School of English) for her invaluable contribution.
This exhibition is part of the ongoing engagement with colonial history and contemporary reality. Dr Duco van Oostrum and Dr Henriette Louwerse have recently been awarded an AHRC networking grant for a project entitled 'Beyond the National Narrative: Translating the Anglo-Dutch colonial legacy in restorative stories, the case of Suriname.'
On Sunday 29 October, Off the Shelf Literary Festival hosts a discussion entitled: Repairing the Past. On We Slaves of Suriname. Author Tessa Leuwsha and Black Archives Amsterdam Director, Mitchell Esajas will discuss this seminal publication by author, historian and activist Anton de Kom, which is now available in an English translation by David McKay). The moderator is Dr Kehinde Andrews.
The exhibition is supported by the Netherlands Embassy. The Off the Shelf discussion is supported by the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Embassy of The Kingdom of the Netherlands. Programmed by Modern Culture as part of New Dutch Writing.