The Afobaka Dam: A Crime Against Humanity

Nieuwe Instituut is het nationale museum voor architectuur, design en digitale cultuur. Nieuwe Instituut houdt zich bezig met de grote ontwikkelingen in de maatschappij, zoals de krapte op de woningmarkt, de energietransitie, de opkomst van kunstmatige intelligentie, mobiliteit of het gebruik van de publieke ruimte. Ontwerpers, waaronder architecten en digitale makers, kunnen aan die ontwikkelingen een belangrijke bijdrage leveren. Nieuwe Instituut toont het werk van ontwerpers, brengt mensen met elkaar in contact, verzamelt, ontwikkelt en deelt kennis.

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We reflect on the moment the Afobaka Dam in Brokopondo was completed 60 years ago and its repercussions.

In a special gathering accompanying the exhibition <a href="https://nieuweinstituut.nl/en/projects/soengoe-kondre" title="https://nieuweinstituut.nl/en/projects/soengoe-kondre" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Soengoe Kondre / Submerged Heritage</a>, we reflect on the moment the Afobaka Dam in Brokopondo (Suriname) was completed 60 years ago, which flooded an area of 1,560 km2 and caused the mass displacement of the Maroon people who had previously lived there. Historians Sally Price and Richard Price will commemorate the moment in a special lecture about the history. There will also be a short dance performance from the theatre performance Closed Eyes by Alida Dors (Theater Rotterdam). The lecture will be followed by a discussion with the curator of the exhibition, Vincent van Velsen.The power dam, which resulted in the flooding of 43 villages, was built to supply electricity to a single aluminium smelter, Suralco, to process the bauxite it mined. Sally Price and Richard Price argue that the construction of the dam and the resulting reservoir, and the continued mistreatment and forced migration of the Saramaka and Ndyuka people who lived in the area, constitute a crime.

Richard PriceRichard Price is an anthropologist and historian who has written extensively on Afro-descendant history and culture throughout the hemisphere, but particularly in Suriname. His award-winning books, translated into several languages, include First-Time, Alabi’s World, The Convict and the Colonel, Travels with Tooy, Rainforest Warriors and, most recently with Sally Price, Saamaka Dreaming and Maroons in Guyane. His latest book is a memoir: Inside/Outside: Adventures in Caribbean History and Anthropology.Sally PriceSally Price has written extensively on aspects of African diaspora cultures, from Harlem and the American South to the Amazonian rainforest, particularly in Suriname. But she is best known for two critical studies of the place of ‘primitive art’ in the ‘Western’ imagination: Primitive Art in Civilized Places (published in eight languages, including Dutch), and Paris Primitive: Jacques Chirac’s Museum on the Quai Branly. She is an elected member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen in the Netherlands and a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France.

Closed Eyes (Theater Rotterdam)A young man descends to the place where the call is audible to him: in the depths of the Surinamese Brokopondo reservoir, where his ancestors once lived. With poetic dance, film images, stirring live music and powerful spoken word by Alida Dors, seven dancers and three musicians immerse you in a magical parallel universe. <a href="https://www.theaterrotterdam.nl/agenda/10825/theater-rotterdam-alida-dors/closed-eyes" title="https://www.theaterrotterdam.nl/agenda/10825/theater-rotterdam-alida-dors/closed-eyes" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Closed Eyes</a> is an invitation to be guided by your dreams, in a world between past and present and future. For inspiration, Alida Dors went to Suriname with a crew. They filmed above Ganzee, the village of her ancestors, which disappeared under the water of the reservoir. "My ancestors dreamed for their grandchildren. I wanted to go back to the place where they dreamed those dreams. Where they lived." Please note: this theatre performance is in Dutch.

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The Afobaka Dam: A Crime Against Humanity

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The Afobaka Dam: A Crime Against Humanity

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