Sites of Memory Foundation (SoM) organizes activities around the hidden and under-represented stories of our shared cultural heritage of the Netherlands and the former colonies.It is founded by Jennifer Tosch (cultural historian and founder of the Black Heritage Tours) and Katy Streek (theatre maker and programmer). Since 2016 they create site specific performances about the 'hidden' stories about the history of slavery and colonialism in Amsterdam. In 2020 and 2021 they developed Future for the Past, an international collaboration between multi-disciplinary artists from South African and The Netherlands about our shared cultural heritage.

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PROJECTS

Through artistic and educational projects we bring the often unheard narratives about the history of slavery and colonisation of the Netherlands and the former colonies to the attention and highlight it from a contemporary perspective. Through creative and educational activities, we promoted awareness about our shared cultural heritage and the intersectional dialogue between different cultural perspectives. In addition, we focus on collaboration with organizations with similar histories.

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Every year, Jennifer Tosch and Katy Streek develop a site-specific performance based on a specific theme with a new route and various artists who interpret the city and its history in a unique way. In 2016, the performance was about the Black community in the 17th century and was in collaboration with students from the Academy for Theatre and Dance and dancers from Untold. In 2017, the performance was with spoken word artists from Nowhere with a focus Amsterdam East, the history of the VOC and the theme of resistance. In 2018, a new team of artists based their work on the theme Changing Portraits. In 2019 the theme was Emerging Memory. In 2020 and 2021 Tosch and Streek worked on the performance Future for the Past.

 

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