35-metre wall hanging brings South Holland's slavery past to Dordrecht

From Saturday 7 November, a monumental wall hanging about South Holland's colonial slavery past will be on display at the Nationaal Onderwijsmuseum. More than 600 residents of the province helped to create it.

A wall hanging 35 metres long, to which more than 600 residents of South Holland contributed, can be seen from Saturday 7 November at the Nationaal Onderwijsmuseum in Dordrecht. The exhibition runs until 3 January 2027.

The artwork is the centrepiece of the exhibition Draden van ons Nederlandse slavernijverleden, South Holland edition. The hanging tells the story of the province's colonial slavery past and shows how its consequences still resonate today.

What there is to see

The design is by textile artist Marcos Kueh, who brings together different stories, perspectives and symbols. Inequality, connection, hope and dreams for the future all feature in it. At the edges of the hanging, colonialism, exploitation and inequality take centre stage.

The design shows the ideologies of the past that brought injustice and inequality to both the Caribbean regions and the former Dutch East Indies. Universiteit Leiden and the Mauritshuis are also depicted. According to the project page, they symbolise the changing knowledge and insights about the slavery past. Both groups of enslaved people move towards the centre of the hanging, framed by symbols of Keti Koti, the day of remembrance that marks the legal abolition of slavery on 1 July 1863.

Hundreds of hands

From February 2025, work on the hanging took place in workshops across South Holland: in Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Rotterdam and Dordrecht. Textile artist Caroline Grootenboer translated Kueh's design into the wall hanging as it is today. Under her guidance, 600 volunteers, mostly women with varying levels of experience, worked on the hanging at different locations.

A woman who is a descendant of people from the Banda Islands developed her own design for the first section of the hanging. She experienced the process as healing. Fabrics and colours of ancestors have also been woven into it.

Part of a national project

The hanging is part of a national project in which eleven provinces portray their own connection to the slavery past in monumental wall hangings. It is organised by Stichting Villa Maecenatis and is an initiative of Ricardo Burgzorg. Groningse draden uit het koloniale verleden was the first success and gave the project a follow-up.

Utrecht also received such a hanging. Museum Huis Doorn, Stichting Villa Maecenatis and the province of Utrecht presented the wall hanging Draden van ons Nederlandse slavernijverleden: Utrecht in 2025, based on historical research and designed by illustrator Munir de Vries.

The opening and the programme

On 7 November, State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations Erik van den Burg and Dordrecht's councillor for culture Dineke Oldenwening will open the exhibition at a gathering with music and food. Together with the CECD, the museum will run an educational programme for young and old during the exhibition.

The hanging invites visitors to look, ask questions and talk with one another about the colonial slavery past and its impact on the present. The museum, at Burgemeester de Raadtsingel 97, is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm and on Sunday from 11am to 5pm.

For Afro-Dutch communities, this is a visible piece of shared history. The organisers call South Holland's slavery past an important and often overlooked part of history. The fact that descendants and ancestral fabrics have been woven into the hanging, and that Keti Koti is central to the design, shows that this story is not only about the past.

More information is available on the website of the Nationaal Onderwijsmuseum and in the report by Dordrecht.net.

Bronnen

• Dordrecht.net
• DordtCentraal
• Geschiedenis van Zuid-Holland
• DvONS
• Nationaal Onderwijsmuseum