| At the end of the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1667, the Netherlands ceded New Amsterdam (New York) in exchange for Suriname. Suriname became a Dutch colony and is now the only Dutch-speaking country on the continent of South America. | | | When do we speak of Surinamese Art?
As happened in all of the Caribbean, many people either came or were brought to Suriname. Some developed roots in their new country, whereas in other cases whole generations continued to other destinations.
Those who stayed built a multi-cultural society.
Attempts at discussing art in the multi-cultural setting of Suriname uncover different outlooks. Which cultural expressions should be considered art? Where does craft end and art begin? Is this an illustrator or an artist? Is it actually Surinamese art? | | When does Surinamese art history start?
With prehistoric Indigenous petroglyphs?
With those who sojourned en worked in Suriname and produced beautifully illustrated books?
For example the German-born Maria Sibylla Meriam (1647-1717) who produced the
“Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium”, or P.J. Benoit (1782-1854) from Belgium, with his “Voyage à Surinam”.
With Gerrit Schouten (1779-1839), born in Suriname of mixed race and who lived there his whole life? He received national and international praise for his beautiful botanical drawings and dioramas.
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| | Back to top | | | | | Before the Second World War, the capital Paramaribo was considered the only centre of art and culture, and was completely focused on Europe. Nonetheless, setting aside developments in what was formally considered art, there were other developments in the area of culture and art.
Some striking examples: | | The "Bush Negroes" or Maroons also lived in relative isolation for a long time,
inaccessible beyond the waterfalls in the great rivers.
The art they developed in the
hinterlands astonished researchers such as Richard and Sally Price, when confronted with it in the nineteen sixties. | | After the arrival of the Whites, the Indigenous Peoples had retreated from the areas where later the capital and the plantations would be founded. As a result, they were able to retain their unique culture and art forms for a long time. | | Javanese immigrants brought along introduced their multifaceted culture from Indonesia. Part of this culture has almost unnoticeably become interwoven into various aspects of society. Another part has survived as "traditionally Javanese". | | | | | | Back to top | | Back to top | | | | | Growing nationalism since the Second World War resulted in Independence in 1975. Part of the development of the independent state was the development of the typically Surinamese "politics of reconciliation". When the Directorate of Culture was founded in 1980, the need to become familiar with each other’s culture was formulated as one of its goals.
Many Surinamese artists gradually started experiencing the various cultures as their own. That is why not only the reflection of tropical light and the natural environment is clearly visible in visual art, but also cultural diversity. This is what makes Surinamese visual art unique and special. The rich inspiration of various influences makes it difficult to speak of a uniform Surinamese style.
Internationally, Surinamese art was initially focused on the Netherlands. This changed after Independence. For example, Suriname participated in two Biennales in Sao Paolo, and won the Yolande Mohaly Prize in 1977. Suriname also participated in the first Carifestas and in the first Caribbean Biennale in Santo Domingo. Besides the big 1996 exhibition of Surinamese art in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and an exhibition organized by the IDB in Washington in 1998, there have been various individual and group exhibitions of Surinamese artists abroad.
| | The big world outside is enormous attractive, especially for the younger generation in this small country of slightly more than 400.000 inhabitants, and so people keep leaving. But with all that coming and leaving, international exchange in the area of art has become important, also for those who have stayed in Suriname. In 1998, artists working in Suriname organized themselves in the FVAS, the Federation of Visual Artists in Suriname. FVAS is not only active in Suriname, but also internationally; it organized the Surinamese participation in the Fourth Caribbean Biennale in Santo Domingo.
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