Jongens van goede begrijpe (2022)

In 1595, the teenage boys Lourens and Madagascar became the first victims of Dutch traders' enslavement, marking a tragic commencement to a long history of human exploitation. These traders were part of the inaugural trade expedition to Asia organized by the nascent Dutch Republic. Their mission was to establish a direct route to Asia, previously dominated by Portuguese merchants. During a stop at the Cape of Good Hope, the fleet reached Madagascar, then known as St. Lourens by Southern European traders. The two boys kidnapped there were subsequently named after the island.

The boys were 'divided,' as recorded in a travelogue. Lourens was assigned to Cornelis de Houtman, a Dutch merchant leading the four ships of the Compagnie van Verre, a precursor to the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Madagascar was to serve Jan Jansz Carel de Jonge, scion of a wealthy Amsterdam merchant family. Their stories, emblematic of the countless untold sufferings, are crucial to understanding the broader narrative of colonial exploitation.

During my residency at the Rijksmuseum, I aim to delve deeply into the representation of seafaring, cartography, trade, and exploration within the collection and explore how these elements intertwine with the cultural and political fabric of Black people across the Black Atlantic. My work will take the form of interventions in the collection, offering a critical commentary on the foundations of Dutch capitalism and reclaiming the historical relationship between import, export, and Black bodies. I plan to scrutinize the museum's porcelain collection, ship models, and maps to uncover and retell personal stories of those impacted by colonialism.

Rinaldo Walcott, in his publication "The Black Aquatic," posits that Black identity emerged from the Middle Passage, an economic venture where enslaved Black people were commodified by colonial enterprises. He suggests that Blackness cannot be disentangled from Western control, economic systems, and maritime imagery. This interpretation offers an Afropessimistic perspective on Paul Gilroy's Black Atlantic concept, which views 'water' as a unifying element in a Black cultural landscape, explaining notable similarities in art, culture, politics, and spirituality. Walcott, however, highlights the pervasive influence of white economic systems, asserting their dominance in shaping cultural, spiritual, and social dynamics.

As the fleet continued towards present-day Indonesia, conflict ensued. In 1596, after fierce battles in the East Javan city of Madeira, the Dutch enslaved two more boys, who were then taken aboard the Hollandia alongside Lourens and Madagascar. These young lives, forcibly intertwined with the Dutch maritime exploits, epitomize the brutal reality of colonialism.