Keti Koti Project – Ala Sma Tori is my most recent, long-term project, started in 2020. With this project I would like to raise attention for Keti Koti, the commemoration of the abolition of slavery in Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles by the Netherlands on July 1st 1863 (or actually 1873 because forced labor still existed until that year). It would be good if this date, the first of July, became a National Holiday here in The Netherlands too, just like it is in Suriname, a day on which we all can look back and forward, a day to heal and to celebrate.
My project consists of portraits and stories of all kinds of people who commemorate and celebrate Keti Koti, as well as videos of songs / spoken word, and old photos. Hence subtitle Ala Sma Tori, i.e. Stories (Tori) of All / Allerlei (Ala) Mensen (People). The work has and will be shown in various exhibitions and installations, and, as of April 1st 2022, on the special website (in Dutch) I created for the project.

To read / seee more please go to the website ketikotiproject.com.