As of today there is a new magazine for the Amsterdamse Poort, shopping centre in Amsterdam Zuidoost. I am in it as co-creator of the name: POORT TORI. I translated the interview for English readers, see below the photo.

_{Photo: Maartje next to her portrait of Wendell Ong Aban a.k.a. Ingi}. _{Photographer: Myra Winter}

Maartje Jaquet
On Facebook she is active under the name ‘ALA SMA TORI’. Maartje Jaquet is a visual artist and much involved in Zuidoost and its community. As an artist she is part of CBK Zuidoost, she has been ‘artist in residence’ at Heesterveld twice. Maartje also came up with the name of this magazine: Poort Tori.

1. Who are you and what do you do? I am Maartje Jaquet and I am a visual artist. In recent years I have been working on a project about Keti Koti. I have painted a lot of portraits, interviewed people who commemorate and celebrate Keti Koti and published a book, because I felt that I hadn’t learned about it at school and because too little is known about it here in the Netherlands – while it is our history.
2. What is your favorite shop in the Poort? That is Athenaeum Boekhandel. That is also where you can buy my book ‘ALA SMA TORI – Keti Koti Verbeeld’ [stories of all kinds of people/of all of us]. I also like to go to Bobo Couture in the Shopperhal, where you can buy jewelry and clothing that is made in Africa, without the intervention of other traders. And I often visit Bibi van Assen’s stall at the market. She sells herbs, gourds and other things from the interior of Suriname. In the photo I am standing next to a portrait that I made of Wendell Ong Aban. People also know him as ‘Ingi’. He often helps Bibi in her stall, so he can often be found there.
3. Where do you prefer to eat in the Poort, or do you like to get food? In the Shopperhal, at Fong Food. Then I eat it while I’m walking and enjoy the atmosphere around me!
4. Why do you think the name ‘Poort Tori’ fits the magazine well? It is a short and powerful title and I also think the words ‘Poort’ and ‘tori’ sound good together. When I read the call on Facebook to come up with a name for the magazine, Poort Tori was the first thing that came to mind: Stories from the Poort.
5. What is your fondest memory of the Poort? July 1, 2020, Keti Koti. Normally the commemoration takes place in the Oosterpark, but that year it was cancelled due to Covid. Nevertheless there were a lot of people out walking in the Poort who had dressed up especially for that day. I spoke to a number of them and asked if I could portray them. That was the beginning of ‘ALA SMA TORI’. Thanks to all the people who participated, I can contribute in my own way, as an artist, to raising awareness of an underexposed part of Dutch history.

Would you like to know more about Maartje and/or her project? Then visit the website: www.ketikotiproject.com