For Program and Registration please go to the project page:
Heritage project on St. Eustatius connects residents with
their ancestors from Afrika
The St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance will start registration of
candidates for its new initiative "Remember Statia: Tracing Our
Origins" on Friday, November 10, 2023. It is a community project in
which the inhabitants of St. Eustatius write their own history. This will be accomplished
by searching for ancestral heroes and heroines and ancestors in general. The
initiative includes training for searching archival materials, writing
instruction, and an art project.
Heroes and heroines from our slavery past
The project aims to raise awareness for the importance of preserving Afrikan
cultural heritage on St. Eustatius. In addition, the heroes of slavery-many of
whom are buried on the former Golden Rock plantation-are to be rescued from oblivion.
The
project will run from November 2023 to October 2024, with funds
provided by the Mondriaan Fund's Open Call for the Dutch Slavery
Memorial Year.
The initiative arose from demonstrations over the Golden Rock
excavations in
2021 and is being carried out in collaboration with the St. Eustatius
Historical foundation, the St. Eustatius Monuments foundation, and
journalist Marvin Hokstam's
Bigi Bon foundation. Bigi Bon created a similar initiative for the
Surinamese
community in the Netherlands called Memre.
The rich and diverse culture of St. Eustatius
Project leader Kenneth Cuvalay: "With this project, we want to
discover and record our own story for ourselves and future generations. Our ancestors,
who survived the Middle Passage, gave new life to Afrikan themes, characters,
and stories in their homes and communities. We hope that the project
participants will make our ancestors' stories known; that they will give them a
name and a face. It is about decolonizing our history and rewriting the narrative
for the future.”
The stories of the participants will be published in a book. A project
closing event will be held on St. Eustatius in October 2024 where all the
stories and artworks will be presented to the general public.
Registration for participants and artists is open
The Alliance is looking for 12 candidates with ancestors from our slavery
past who are committed to telling and connecting their story with a work of
art. Furthermore, the Alliance is searching for artists to mentor the
candidates as they shape their artwork. The trainings are provided at no costs
to participants. Artists will be compensated for their mentoring.
Candidate participants and artists can register via:
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Information for the Editor
Contact: Kenneth
Cuvalay, President of the “St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance”
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Phone/WhatsApp
St. Eustatius: +599 3194975
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WhatsApp Netherlands
+31 6 29014308
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Email: steustatiusafrikanburialground@gmail.com
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Website: https://afrikanhistoryandconsciousness.blogspot.com/
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Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/steustatiusafrikanburialgroundalliance/
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Instagram @steustatiusafrikanburialground
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Twitter https://twitter.com/SE_ABG_Alliance
About
the St. Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance (SE-ABG Alliance)
The
SE-ABG Alliance came about as a result of the protests against the excavations
on an 18th-century burial ground of enslaved Afrikans that were started by a
team of international archaeologists in June 2021 in St. Eustatius (see https://www.change.org/LeaveOurAncestorsInPeace).
The protests were initially led by the political party Ubuntu Connected Front
Caribbean. Located in St. Eustatius and with allies around the world, the St.
Eustatius Afrikan Burial Ground Alliance broadened the scope of the
struggle focusing on other Afrikan burial grounds in St. Eustatius such as the
Afrikan Burial Ground Godet Plantation St. Eustatius (Godet/Fort Amsterdam).
One of the aims is to further broaden the scope of our struggle to the
Pan-Afrikanism level, connecting with and working with Afrikan-centered
organizations and movements that are also fighting for the preservation of our ancestors’
endangered Afrikan burial grounds around the world and taking control of our
narrative that has been distorted. Among them are Annina van Neel, CEO of the
Tiekie Box Project and protagonist of the awarded documentary “A Story of
Bones”, and Peggy King Jorde, consultant and defender of marginalized histories
and Afrikan burial grounds.
About
BIgi Bon Foundation
The
projects of Bigi Bon foundation's focus on inclusion. Bigi Bon means Big Tree
in the Sranan language, which refers to its philosophy that Big Trees provide
much Shade; Big trees provide shelter, protection, housing and nourishment to
other beings in the forest, just as adults should provide protection to
children. Our generation lives under the watchful eye of the previous and we
are tasked with keeping a watchful eye on the next generations.
The
foundation aims to improve the position of immigrant communities in general and
especially the Afrikan diaspora communities, through knowledge generation
through media related activities and providing learning support. Also:
increasing the opportunities of people, especially young people from the
aforementioned communities.
Project
Memre: https://afromagazine.nl/nieuws/project-memre-met-afro-magazine-op-jacht-naar-verhalen-die-de-geschiedenisles-negeerde
For the Alliance is Afrika spelled with a “k” instead
of a “c” based on the following insights:
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It is a Pan-Afrikan spelling which relates
both to the Afrikan continent and to the Diaspora;
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It reflects the spelling of “Afrika”
in all Afrikan languages;
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It includes the concept of “ka”, the
vital energy which both sustains and creates.
In response to the protests against the Golden Rock plantation, we
published a scientific article in January 2022 “A
Future That Does Not Forget: Collaborative Archeology in the Colonial Context
of Sint Eustatius (Dutch Caribbean)”.by our
archaeologist marjolijn kok. We also published the “Manifesto:
What the FARO Convention means for St. Eustatius”.
