Famiri Familie. Surinam-Amsterdam tales from 1611

The bond between Suriname and Amsterdam

Since the early seventeenth century, Suriname and Amsterdam have been closely connected. Through colonization, slavery and exploitation. But also through transatlantic personal and family ties. From July 2023 to July 2024, the history and consequences of slavery will be commemorated for a year. With the exhibition Famiri Familie, the Amsterdam City Archives and the Suriname National Archives contribute to this commemoration. New stories are told and there is room to come together, to do your own research and to exchange histories.

Famiri Family gives a face to a greater history. Family stories offer a glimpse into the relationships and daily lives of families on both sides of the ocean. The brutality of slavery characterizes these histories, but the exhibition also provides a stage for the ingenuity, resilience and survival power that speak of these family stories.

The stories have been traced by the Amsterdam City Archives and the Suriname National Archives. To this end, the researchers searched the collections of these archives and private collections. They also draw on the oral tradition, in which important events are passed on from generation to generation.

The exhibition consists of eight stories supported by audio fragments. There is also a mini-documentary by Surinamese and Dutch filmmakers about the Colonial World Exhibition in Amsterdam in 1883 and the family histories associated with it.

The exhibition texts can also be heard in Sranantongo. The exhibition can be visited for free at various places:

Amsterdam City Archives, Vijzelstraat 32, Amsterdam: June 29, 2023 through January 14, 2024

Cultural Educational Center, Bijlmerdreef 1289, Amsterdam: 6 July to 17 September 2023

Suriname National Archives, Jaggernath Lachmonstraat 174: June 30, 2023 through October 31, 2023