) 24 Nov.1975 wordt in de Bijlmer de Surinaamse vlag gehesen en de onafhankelijkheid gevierd. .(bron:Anefo)
Srefidensi
) 24 Nov.1975 wordt in de Bijlmer de Surinaamse vlag gehesen en de onafhankelijkheid gevierd. .(bron:Anefo)
tentoonstelling Srefidensi in Tropen Museum 2017
Srefidensi: A Photographic Perspective on Surinamese Histories of Resistance and Emancipation.
About Srefidensi
Srefidensi is a research initiative by Sara Blokland and FOTODOK.. Through photography, Blokland reflects on several well-known and lesser-known stories of colonial history leading up to Suriname’s independence in 1975. Together with writers, artists, and researchers, Blokland examines and analyzes photographs that depict the resistance and emancipation of the Surinamese people
The project was made possible with support from the Mondriaan Fund, Municipality of Utrecht, Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Research Center for Material Culture, and the Tholenaar van Raalte Fellowship.
What we did
Between 2015 and 2017 Blokland and Fotodok delved into various photo archives, such as those of the Tropenmuseum, the International Institute of Social History, the National Archives, the Amsterdam Archive, and the Surinamese Museum in Paramaribo, to research the histories of resistance among Surinamese people up until around 1975.
The research took place both in the Netherlands and Suriname, forming the thematic and conceptual foundation for the various platforms of the Srefidensi project. From countless image archives, she distilled five stories in which photography, resistance, and Suriname played central roles. These included the history of the statue of Queen Wilhelmina in Suriname, the story of the identity of the Surinamese flag, the forgotten resistance of Suriname’s indigenous population, the protests of Surinamese people in the Netherlands during the 1970s, and the symbolic self-portraits of Surinamese activist Wim Bos Verschuur.
Blokland created five visual newspapers about these stories and, together with FOTODOK, organized four mini-symposia where these stories were central to the discussions. These symposia were organized in collaboration with the Tropenmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, and The Black Archives/Association Ons Suriname. Blokland collaborated with various artists and researchers: poet and artist Quinsy Gario, artist and curator Charl Landvreugd, Professor Alex van Stipriaan, Dr. Ellen-Rose Kambel, and Suriname expert Carl Haarnack, who contributed to the website, symposia, and research. Additionally, Blokland, together with artist Jaya Pelupessy, created the visual installation Srefidensi and the Flag in an outdoor location, partially commissioned by CBK Zuidoost.Blokland collaborated with artist Jaya Pelupessy on two short Srefidensi films, which she exhibited in 2017 in the light hall of the Tropenmuseum, along with part of the five visual newspapers. They also collaborated on the autonomous work Srefidensi and the Flag.
In addition to this theoretical and visual research, there where several lectures given about the research at Framer Framed in Amsterdam, the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, The Black Archives, and the Amsterdam Museum. All the material (research and outcomes) forms the basis for the Srefidensi website, by designer Yvonne van Versendaal.
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about Sara
Sara Blokland (the Netherlands, 1969) is a visual artist, independent researcher, and curator in photography. Her work examines the ambiguous relationship between photography and (post)colonial cultural histories.
She received a BA in photography from the Rietveld Academy, an MFA in photography from the Sandberg Institute in the Netherlands, and an MA in Film and Photographic Studies from Leiden University.
Her work has been exhibited internationally at the Kumho Museum in Seoul, Korea, Gallery Lmak-projects in New York, and in the Netherlands at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, and Municipal The Hague (Netherlands). Her work is part of several private and public collections, including the Stedelijk Museum, the ABN AMRO Collection, the Rabobank Collection, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Netherlands Photo Museum, and The Hague Municipal Museum. She was also the photographer and editor of the book van Waarde [of Value] (2008) and The Surinam Police Band (2009). She was co-editor and initiator of the book Unfixed Photography and Post-Colonial Perspectives in Contemporary Art (2012).She worked as a curator and researcher on the exhibition Unfixed (2009, Dordrecht Art Center), the project Srefidensi (2017, Fotodok, TropenMuseum, CBK Zuidoost, Amsterdam Museum), and the exhibition Contemporary Caribbean Perspectives (2020, Museum van Wereld culturen).Currently, she is a lecturer photography and research at the Art Academy Utrecht , teaching at the the Master Photography and society at the KABK and PhD student and the University of leiden . Sara lives and works in Amsterdam.
contact@sarablokland.com