Exhibition 140 Photo exhibition Saturday | 10:00 - 18:00 | Indiaspora Deck At the Diaspora deck, two photo exhibitions will be set up, a digital genealogical research is present in order to trace your ancestors and movies will be played. Book launch with photo exhibition Nickerie, stories of people and buildings, is a written monument in text and images for the pioneers who formed Nickerie, the westernmost district of Surinam. The stories are mostly told by the people themselves. To capture and keep for new generations. 140 years ago, the first ship with men, women and children from the British Indies, arrived in Surinam. They were brought in to work on the plantations. Those who remained after the five years of the contract of employment, were given a piece of land to grow their own products. Rice was, and still is the main crop. The former plantations were turned into polders. Later on, there was large scale mechanical rice production. The project "Wageningen" was set up, with Dutch and Surinamese pioneers who made a modern rice centre in the former zwampbos (swamp forest) that was a market leader in the world for quite some time. Around 1975, with the independence of Surinam coming near, there was a period of turmoil that might be similar to the unrest that prevailed in the depot at the port of Calcutta, the starting point of the immigrants. What would happen in the future? And where would the future be better: in Surinam or in Holland? Many Surinamese people chose the latter option and left with a one way ticket to the Netherlands. It was the second great crossing for Hindustani in just a few generations. The Hague is currently the Hindo-capital of the Netherlands. The number of persons of Hindustani origin in this city amounts to more than the total population of Nickerie; about 10 percent of the more than 500,000 inhabitants. Nickerie, stories of people and buildings, by Fineke van der Veen, Dick ter Steege and Chandra van Binnendijk; published by LM Publishers Foundation, design MAT design/Maya Timmer; Exhibition book in images is based on images from the book. Photos by Dick ter Steege en Fineke van der Veen; historical drawings Dick ter Steege Exhibition invisible; photos by Peter van Beek. The main feature of Hindustani in the Hague is their invisibility as a group. No reports in the media about Hindustani youngsters causing trouble or Hindostani teenage mothers, at most, there is some attention for the Hindu celebrations such as diwali or holi. Individual Hindustanis are visible in all sectors of the economy, the civil service, education and health care, but they are never dominant. However, there is indeed a tight community, invisible to outsiders. Hindustani radio and tv stations, schools, social media, cultural, social and religious organizations. Hindustani are connected by background, culture and religion, by India and Surinam. And within that culture there are subcultures. In short: Hindustani in the Hague are just as diverse as any other group.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 14:55:26 +0000
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