Interwoven Past

What to expect

Interwoven Past is an exhibition with personal video portraits about how the colonial past of Suriname and the Caribbean continues in Dordrecht today.

Many things people now find normal come from the colonial past.

The portraits include Peggy Bouva, mayor Nanning Mol, Sidney Breidel, Glenda van Duivenvoorde, Péris Conrad, Jochem Sprenger and Delice Abad.

The exhibition follows 2025 research by Dr. Karwan Fatah-Black, Ramona Negrón, Nikita Krouwel and Rowan van der Stelt into Dordrecht's slavery past and the lives of Black residents of Dordrecht, commissioned by the Gemeente Dordrecht.

The emancipation room is the starting point and shows Umar Rashid's flag 'Zakendoen kost pijn' (2022).

Rashid uses new flags about the WIC to reshape history.

There you can learn about Dordrecht's colonial history, the city council's role in founding the WIC, and how enslaved people received new European-sounding surnames.

You can also research whether your family is connected to the colonial past.

For school groups 7 and 8, a city walk explores visible and invisible traces of the colonial past.

Pupils discover stories behind facade signs, harbors, words and products and make a plan for a Dordt Keti Koti celebration.

The video portraits are used during the walk to connect historical events to personal stories of today.

• Peggy Bouva: descendant of an enslaved family
• Each portrait gives its own perspective
• The past is interwoven with the city
• Flag is from Dordrechts Museum collection
• Purchase supported by Mondriaan Fonds
• Rashid's WIC flags reshape history