1 Nov 2013 / 5 Jan 2014

What does it mean to be black in the Netherlands today, and where does white come into it? How does slavery continue to impact on the present? Where has 150 years of living together brought us?

In the series Monuments for the future the Tropenmuseum commissioned three artists to respond to these questions. Each invited a partner. The results are shown in three presentations in which they look back at history and use the past to articulate their position in the world today.

Patricia Kaersenhout & Jimini Hignett
Patricia Kaersenhout and Jimini Hignett link historical slavery with the prostitution of women as a modern form of slavery.

Patricia Kaersenhout's work examines the position of Black women in society, past and present. Her new work for the Tropenmuseum explores the myths and half-truths in which slavery and oppression are continually covered over by a mantle of love.

Jimini Hignett made a video installation in collaboration with women who have escaped enforced prostitution in the Netherlands. The title of the work, Mulier Sacer, means the disposable woman: a person who has so few rights left in society that the wrongs that are done to her are no longer seen as crimes.

http://howtogoon.com/index.php/handle-with-care/

Next artists in the series Monuments for the future:
16 January / 2 March 2014: Charl Landvreugd & Edgar Cairo
13 March / 5 May 2014: Iris Kensmil & Willem de Rooij

Exhibition Black & White

Monuments for the Future is part of the exhibition Black & White, organised by the Tropenmuseum 150 years after the abolition of slavery. With personal stories, photographs, films and artworks, the exhibition explores how 'black' and 'white' people have lived with each other in the Netherlands since 1863. By asking thought provoking questions the Tropenmuseum invites visitors to engage in discussion. With each other and with themselves.

http://www.tropenmuseum.nl/