A start to a more inclusive description of LGBT history
The exhibition Nos tei (Papiamentu/o for “We are there” or “We exist”) is a response and complement to the With Pride exhibition, which was on view in Amsterdam in 2018. In it, IHLIA displayed various themes from forty years of LGBT activism and archiving in the Netherlands. In addition to praise, the exhibition received criticism because black LGBT people were not or barely featured.
Nos tei showcases two bicultural gay movements from the 1980s and 1990s, Suho and Strange fruit. The exhibition examines different conceptions of gender and sexuality. It also highlights the intersectional thinking of the predominantly black women’s movement of the time, long before the contemporary focus on intersectionality. Finally, art and culture provide a more layered and multifaceted view of multicultural society.
The exhibition shows that LGBT people from Suriname and the former Netherlands Antilles were and are there and that they are part of the Netherlands. The five themes show the rich legacy of these groups and individuals. It is an impetus to a more inclusive description of LGBT history.
If I meet someone I’m not going to say, ‘That’s a lesbian woman’, you don’t. It’s more about feeling each other out.
Ligya Wachter
Location: IHLIA Plaza, Oosterdokskade 143, 3rd floor (OBA Oosterdok)
When: 12 July – 4 September 2019
READ | WATCH | LISTEN
> Het verhaal achter Pride expositie Nos tei – from: Vrije Tijd Amsterdam (22 July) [in Dutch]
> De rijke geschiedenis van de zwarte queerbeweging in Nederland – from: Vice (23 July) [in Dutch]
