Not My Soul: Slavery, Law and Freedom

Slavery in antiquity

Many of the archaeological objects on display were produced by, or with the labour of, enslaved people. The marble for statues and the metal for coins were cut and extracted by enslaved miners. Earthenware pots, cups and plates were made in workshops where the workforce largely consisted of enslaved people. The exhibition shows how slavery functioned in antiquity, including through papyrus fragments, such as a document recording the ‘transaction’ of the 22-year-old Alexandra, who was sold for the second time.

Slavery in Suriname

Objects from the Surinamica collection present slavery in Suriname mainly through the perspectives of colonial administrators, cartographers and researchers. The exhibition shows that aspects of colonial slave legislation drew, at least in part, on Roman-law concepts. While slavery has not always been defined by ethnicity across history, during transatlantic slavery skin colour became decisive. Blackness was associated with the deprivation of rights and subjugation, while whiteness was equated with freedom and citizenship.

Various items highlight how enslaved people in Suriname pursued some form of freedom. Dictionaries and recorded dialogues, for example, reveal efforts by white authorities to regulate language and custom, even as enslaved people developed their own.

Contemporary art

Contemporary art plays an important role in the exhibition. Fugitives (2024) by Kathryn Smith and Pearl Mamathuba, for example, reconstructs the identities of enslaved people using nineteenth-century newspaper descriptions and notices published to pursue runaways. Now they look intently at the visitors as strong individuals. Works by Sarojini Lewis, Liara Barussi and René Tavares are also on view.