Tori Oso: My Independence - Fifty years of Surinamese independence

• Date: 22 November
• Time: 10:30 - 17:00
• Location: Nationaal Archief

This event takes place in Dutch.

To celebrate 50 years of Surinamese independence, the National Archives is organizing a gathering with presentations by six speakers from various Surinamese communities. These presentations will feature personal stories about migration, struggle, love, solidarity, drawing strength, heritage, and the meaning of independence, both in 1975 and today.

Guest speakers

• Joan Windzak takes you through the extraordinary life story of her Creole ancestor, Affiba, born in 1792. For Joan, she was a symbol of love, perseverance, and strength. Affiba lived to be 104 years old.
• Shantie Singh recounts how her mother arrived in Almelo as a young woman, not long after Surinamese independence. There she had an unexpected encounter with another family of Indian descent, this one from Uganda. What did this mean for them? Did they recognize each other's language and customs, influenced by British and Dutch colonial history?
• Aimée Kromoprajitno takes the audience on a journey of embracing her Javanese identity and explains how the space was created to discover and celebrate her cultural roots.
• Uriel Sabajo speaks from the strength of her ancestors, descendants of the Lokono people. She also advocates for recognition of the rights of her people and their cultural dignity.
• Melvin Chang sheds light on his own and his family's migration history: a journey that began in China in the 1940s and led to the Netherlands via Suriname.
• Carlo Hoop plays the Apintie drums as a tribute to the Saramaccan Maroons (descendants of people who fled and were enslaved in the 17th and 18th centuries) from Suriname. He discusses the role this tradition plays in his life and how he passes it on to others.

Host

Laurindo Andrea is a fashion historian and archive lecturer at the National Archives. He will welcome guests and open the event.

Discussion leader

Journalist Stuart Kensenhuis will moderate this event and will bring the stories together into a mosaic of memories.

Archival documents and personal belongings

The speakers will illustrate their stories with archival documents from the National Archives collection and personal artifacts. Afterward, you can view the archival documents and artifacts in the reading room .

Program

• 10:30 am: Walk-in with coffee and tea
• 11:00 AM - 4:30 PM: Lectures by the speakers, including breaks, lunch and viewing of archival materials in the reading room
• 5:00 PM: End of program

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