New section on future slavery past in Destination Port City

In the exhibition Destination Port City at the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, visitors step into a virtual metro and travel through Rotterdam's past and present since 2022. They experience how this city was shaped by water, ports, labour and trade. The journey ends at Horizon Station. Every year, a different guest curator invites visitors to look into the future. This year, it is MaMA Rotterdam's turn.

MaMA Rotterdam's supporters were asked to provide a vision of how we will deal with the slavery past in the future. Artists Serana Angelista and Jaasir Linger set to work on this. The legacy of the colonial and slavery past extends beyond the exploitation of land, resources and physical strength of enslaved people. From superiority thinking, the West imposed their language, culture and religion on the colonised people. This eroded the self-image and cultural heritage of the indigenous, enslaved and Maroons, resulting in the suppression of their authentic expression.

Future

Station Horizon changes its content every year. So after the first edition on the Rotterdam port, it is now time for a completely different subject. The history of slavery is already at the centre of Station Leuvehaven in the same exhibition. Here, we address the wealth and misery that came from the city of Rotterdam's past. With the installation at Station Horizon, we make a leap in time: How do we move forward after the apologies of the Dutch government and the Remembrance Year of the Slavery Past? The new interpretation at Station Horizon can be seen from 4 October.

About MaMA

MaMaMaMA's programme is rooted in youth and popular culture and takes place in those areas where broader cultural developments are becoming visible within contemporary art practice. MaMA closely follows the developments of a young generation of artists: bringing them in, supporting, developing and showcasing them is what MaMA is committed to.

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