On October 20, 2011, about twenty-five Maroon women from Suriname's interior travelled to Paramaribo to display the results of their ten-day woodblock printing workshop. This women empowerment project, organised by Nienke Algra from the Netherlands and Suriname's National Women's Movement (NVB – Nationale Vrouwen Beweging) combined an exchange between Maroon groups with the instruction of block printing techniques on fabric.
Women empowerment projects in Suriname
The initiative was a result of an earlier, successful collaboration between Nienke and the NVB with workshops for Maroon women on designing and producing jewellery. The jewellery is sold in Paramaribo and at tourist locations along the Upper Suriname River.
Sieglien Spier, coordinator of the NVB, emphasises the financial goals of their projects. "We talk to women in the villages, list what they would like to do and learn, and where they see opportunities for economic growth. We subsequently look which projects are feasible in terms of organisation and financing."
This workshop was possible thanks to the financial support of SKANFONDS in the Netherlands.
Woodblock printing on fabric - stamps line of textiles and instructions
Nienke Algra and Marlin Declercq gave instruction on how to print on fabric, but also encouraged the women to be creative and to think about designs for their own stamps in the future. Women sewed and printed clothes and other fabrics such as wraparound skirts (locally called pangis, see photo below), tablecloths, pillowcases, napkins and bags.
Nienke Algra chose the line of textiles. Printed pangis and bags will find their way to locals and tourists, but there are more opportunities on the horizon. Nienke, "Wouldn't it be great for guesthouses and restaurants to use sheets and pillow cases, or table linen, imprinted with their logos that are locally designed and produced? I have already discussed this with various owners of guesthouses, and I am hopeful about the outcome."
For the occasion, the Surinamese artist Marcel Pinas created a set of stamps with Maroon symbols while Marlin Declercq, a Surinamese who currently lives in the Netherlands, focused her designs around the themes of women and her surroundings. Apart from the woodblock printing technique the women were taught different embroidery stitches, as well as how to make heliographic fabric art.
From Pikin Slee to Moengo and Paramaribo
The woodblock printing workshop was also an exchange among Aukaner Maroons from Moengo, Samakaner Maroons from around Pikin Slee and Maroon women from Paramaribo.
The workshop started in Pikin Slee, along the Upper Suriname River south of Paramaribo, where the women started with the basic techniques (see photo below). After two days of training, they each worked on a specific task. Santiona Winkel from Moengo worked on a tablecloth. "I love this training. I have always sewn clothes, but now I am going to design my own stamps to make them even better."
Others are a bit more cautious because they are not sure how to finance the initial costs of, for example, purchasing stamps. Fortunately, in many villages the NVB has a system of micro loans that may help them get started. Wooden stamps can be carved locally, and the NVB will take care of the logistics to label the products (see photo below), and take them to villages in the area frequented by tourists and sales outlets in Paramaribo.
The second half of the exchange took place at the TAS educational centre in Moengo, in east Suriname. The ten-day workshop ended in Paramaribo with an exhibition of the produced materials in Het Park, near the Onafhankelijkheidsplein.
Here, Marcel Pinas emphasised in his speech the need for such initiatives like this one, which enables Surinamese women to develop skills and create sources of income. Three of the participants, Jacky, Alvie Huur and Santiona Winkel proudly addressed the group as well, thanking the instructors and the NVB for the instructive but also fun workshop, and shared their hopes and confidence of having found a way to broaden their horizons.
Karin-Marijke Vis - Karin-Marijke Vis is a bilingual writer (Dutch-English) who has been traveling in Asia and South America since 2003.
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