My Land

My Land. The doctrine of discovery.
june 2023

Paintings, essay, poems, photo-presentation performances.

Inspiration:

What if you have had no rights for over 600 years because you suddenly appear to have been discovered and robbed of everything of value. That from being an original resident you end up being a survivor of the world’s largest genocide in which many millions of your people were exterminated and you only belong to 5 to 8% of the population of the country where you once had a flourishing, rich, prosperous culture.

On March 30, 2023, after more than 600 years, the Vatican distanced itself from the ‘doctrine of discovery’, which is used for centuries to justify the Christian European genocide and enslavement of indigenous peoples and domination of land and water
in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and America. The doctrine consists of written documents and the pervasive ideologies that followed have been confirmed by legal decisions and codified in legislative and executive actions. Unfortunately, the Vatican’s rejection of the doctrine is not sufficient to put an end to the subjugation and oppression of indigenous people.

In 2005, the Supreme Court of America, Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg, applied this doctrine to justify the restriction of the rights and sovereignty of indigenous peoples. Recent developments in Suriname, South America, where my roots are, show that doctrine has still not stopped causing deep wounds. How the doctrine is still present today and how impossible it is to heal without it.

My work on this project contains Paintings: Diptych “Mijn land” Mixed media on linen 200×220 cm and acrylic paint on linen 170 x 220 cm

Photopresentation “Daily life. What do you see?” Questioning the percieving of a woman in her daily live. What do you see when looking at these photos? A woman, a black woman, daily live?

Performances 1. Discussing “My land” 2. I put a box on my head painted with the Dutch Flag and walked in the center of Groningen. Asking passersby: “And where do you come from?” And then what the question meant to them.

And where are you from?