Soengoe Kondre in Suriname
24 February 2025 - 29 March 2025
The exhibition Soengoe Kondre / Submerged Heritage, which was previously on display at the Nieuwe Instituut, will travel to two locations in Suriname in February and March. The exhibition takes visitors – now literally – to the submerged interior of Suriname, where an area of about 1,560 square kilometres was flooded with water when the Afobaka Dam was completed in 1964. The construction of the dam led to the large-scale displacement of the Maroon communities that had lived there until then.
Parallel history
As part of this project, curator Vincent van Velsen did archival research and interviewed eyewitnesses, survivors and their relatives about the flood and the forced displacement or ‘transmigration’ that accompanied it. Their personal memories form a parallel history that adapts, enriches and deepens the ‘official’ narrative from Dutch and Surinamese archives, design drawings and media. As part of the exhibition, artist Miguel Peres dos Santos has made a film that refutes the original colonial imagery by reversing the gaze direction of archival images using contemporary film footage and alternative editing.
Unique locations
It is very special that the exhibition will be shown again in these very locations. Under the title Singi Konde, the exhibition will be presented by the DOB (Duurzame Ontwikkeling Bigipondo) Foundation from 25 February to 2 March in the transmigration village of Brownsweg, where some of the former inhabitants of Ganzee and Koffiekam now live. These villages play a prominent role in the story told in the exhibition.
As Sungu Kondre (Drowned Land), the exhibition can be seen in Paramaribo from 28 February to 30 March 2025, presented by the Afro-Surinamese socio-cultural organisation NAKS, which works to preserve and raise awareness of Afro-Surinamese culture and heritage.
For the presentation in Paramaribo, the exhibition and the film of the same name are referred to using the current spelling of the Surinamese language and a more literal translation. For the presentation in Brownsweg, Saramaccan is used, the language of one of the Maroon communities central to the project.
Soengoe Kondre / Submerged Heritage in Rotterdam
➝ Read moreFilm screenings in Suriname
➝ Read morePartners and programming
The realisation of the project in February/March 2025 is the result of a joint effort by the Nieuwe Instituut, NAKS and DOB. The touring exhibition was made possible by the Mondriaan Fund, the Cultuurfonds, Dutch Culture and the International Heritage Cooperation.
More information about the partner organisations involved and the content of the satellite programme at both locations will be announced shortly.
Further reading
This project was made possible thanks to:
