Unknown Artist
At the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam a very important exhibition is taking place now, entitled Slavery. Ten True Stories. In this exhibition, the museum focus for the first time on slavery in the Dutch colonial period. This era spanning 250 years is an integral part of the history of the Netherlands. It was a time when people were reduced to property, to objects, to items in the accounts. The exhibition tells ten true stories from people who were involved in slavery in one way or another.
At the beginning of the 18th century, to help newcomers develop land in Suriname, the widow Magdalena Boxel-van Gelre wrote the practical guide, Aanwijzingen voor plantage-onderneming in Suriname (Instructions on plantation management in Suriname). After the death of her husband, she owned the Boxel sugar plantation, which was situated on the Suriname River until 1709.
Boxel-van Gelre begins her guide with the following advice: "Establishing a new plantation is a difficult and costly endeavor – in the beginning, with new and unskilled slaves, nearly impossible for newcomers, but if one has old, trained slaves it goes well enough." Even for enslaved workers with experience, however, the reclamation of land, with which the establishment of a plantation began, was one of the most exhausting operations. Broad canals and narrow trenches, intended for drainage and the transport of crops, were dug in the broiling sun using nothing more than a shovel. It is no coincidence that today, in the oral tradition of the Maroons, the digging of canals and trenches (and their biannual dredging) is still cited as one of the principal reasons for fleeing from a plantation.
We share this story thanks to the Rijksmuseum.
P.S. If you are going to visit the Rijksmuseum, don't forget to see the famous Night Watch. Here are 15 things you should know about this masterpiece!