topic: Living with Land Otherwise Series

Here you can watch and listen to the story of a Maroon community that lives in and with the rainforests in the former Dutch colony of Suriname.

In the Topic LAND, we also made this specific series about Living with Land Otherwise. This starts with the story of a Maroon community living in and with the rainforests in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Decedents of Africa who were enslaved by the Dutch for labouring on plantations in Suriname, their story is told in the captivating film Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu A Weti) made by filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander.

Land is the earth beneath our feet, the horizon that stretches beyond our view, the matter of which life and energy springs from and returns to. Yet, how do we see land? How do we treat it? How do we inhabit it? How do we care for it? And how do we leave it?

While the ownership relation gives the state and corporate industries power to use land for profit, what we do with land comes back to haunt us, directly or indirectly. Climate breakdown is stark proof of the fact that there are no effects or consequences that go unaccounted for.

As a part of ArtEZ studium generale research on Land: on climate, ownership and coexistence, this dossier aims to question and move away from worldviews and practices that are based on possession and the ownership relation. Can we live with land otherwise?

Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu A Weti)

Living with Land Otherwise starts with the story of a Maroon community living in and with the rainforests in the former Dutch colony of Suriname. Decedents of Africa who were enslaved by the Dutch for labouring on plantations in Suriname, their story is told in the captivating film Stones Have Laws (Dee Sitonu A Weti) made by filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander. Last year, the screening of this film was followed by a conversation amongst filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander, moderated by documentary maker and journalist Kevin Headley. You can find a recap of the video registration below.

The making of the film Stones Have Laws. Photo by Lonnie van Brummelen.

video – 11 jan. 2021

Recap of online conversation 'Stones Have Laws'

Filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen, Siebren de Haan and Tolin Erwin Alexander discuss with moderator Kevin Headley how crucial it was for the film to support the land right struggle of the Maroon community. Until their land rights are recognised, the Maroon community continues to live with uncertainty, as the government displaces the Maroon communities for the extraction of natural resources such as petroleum, gold and bauxite. The film makers also spoke about how they developed a trustful relationship with the communities involved, which ensured that this film was told in rightful ways.

essay Lietje Bauwens – 23 sep. 2020

Leven in een multiversum

Mister Motley publiceerde in 2018 het interview 'Leven in een multiversum' waarin Lietje Bauwens het kunstenaarsduo Van Brummelen & de Haan spreekt over het onderzoek naar het oprekken van landsgrenzen. ArtEZ Studium Generale publiceert het interview opnieuw in het kader van het project LAND en de online filmvertoning van 'Dee Sitonu a Weti / Stones Have Laws' en het gesprek met de makers Van Brummelen & de Haan.

Textual appendices Stories from the Rainforest

The filmmakers Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan contribute to this topic with a series of textual appendices on the subject of land, which they developed when they were conducting research for Stones Have Laws. Their contribution, Stories from the Rainforest, offers a rich reflection on how materials speak to them in and through their artistic practice. By tracing material flows and goods within the global economy, they show the rifts and new relations between humans and their environment. Through their encounters with various communities, they recount how they as image-makers deal with these rifts and challenges.

essay Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan – 12 jan. 2021

Stories from the Rainforest: Introduction

Read here the introduction to the essay series on Stories from the Rainforest.

essay Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan – 13 jan. 2021

Stories from the Rainforest: Plantationocene

a contract with nature

Read here Plantationocene, the first essay in the series Stories from Rainforest.

essay Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan – 01 mrt. 2021

Stories from the Rainforest: Nature intended it that way

Read here Nature intended that way, the second essay in the series Stories from Rainforest.

essay Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan – 28 jun. 2021

Stories from the Rainforest: Nature intended it that way 2

Read here Nature intended that way, part 2, the third essay in the series Stories from Rainforest.

essay Lonnie van Brummelen and Siebren de Haan – 05 jul. 2021

Stories from the Rainforest: The dance of relating

Read here The dance of relating, the fourth and final essay in the series Stories from Rainforest.

The fight for acknowledgment of human and land rights in Suriname

In the text The fight for acknowledgment of human and land rights in Suriname, Kevin Headley, who lives and works in Suriname, gives an in-depth account of the local situation and the ongoing struggle for the recognition of land rights of the Maroon and Indigenous communities. In contrast to large-scale land grabbing by corporate industries that exploit land for capital gain at the expense of local communities, Indigenous relations to land entail the duty to protect and care for it for generations to come.

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essay Kevin Headley – 22 feb. 2021

The Fight for Acknowledgment of Human and Land Rights in Suriname

As quoted in this essay by Kevin Headley: "The land rights are the greatest security that the Surinamese government can give to the original inhabitants of this country," says Theo Jubithana, chairman of the Association of Indigenous Village Chiefs in Suriname, VIDS. "As long as it is not recognized by law, we will continue to live in great uncertainty every day.” While there are agreements in place regarding the areas inhabited and used by the communities, the state of Suriname fails to legally corroborate their rights to the land which they live on and with.