Here you don't often come across Americans who know where Suriname is, let alone that they have been there, but you can't predict it. I am increasingly surprised. When I said during the opening of the exhibition where my work was displayed that it was a great honor for me that my work had been chosen from so many entries, I received a response that I had not expected at all. That the photos of this little girl from Suriname, I continued, a country that you probably don't even know where it is", I had not even finished speaking when Mel Wright, a sympathetic Vietnam veteran, stepped forward and answered, "I have even been to Suriname"!
Here you don't often come across Americans who know where Suriname is, let alone that they have been there, but you can't predict it. I am increasingly surprised. When I said during the opening of the exhibition where my work was displayed that it was a great honor for me that my work had been chosen from so many entries, I received a response that I had not expected at all. That the photos of this little girl from Suriname, I continued, a country that you probably don't even know where it is", I had not even finished speaking when Mel Wright, a sympathetic Vietnam veteran, stepped forward and answered, "I have even been to Suriname"!
I can also remember that a while ago I was just about to explain where Suriname is, when the man I was talking to said, “I know where that is.” Anthony Nesty is the first black man to win Olympic gold in swimming, right? I was not only surprised, but of course also super proud. I know Anthony from the past. He was a member of the club Dolfijn, rival of Oase where I was a member, during the annual Driehoeks Toernooi of which Witte Lotus was the third candidate.
The day Nesty won, we Surinamese were up until two in the morning, in our student room in Delft, to see it live. My goodness, we were so happy! That they didn't know where Suriname was, raising the old flag during the Surinamese national anthem we found embarrassing, but it certainly didn't spoil the fun. This was absolute history, not only because he was black and Anthony's training conditions were completely insignificant compared to American rival Matt Biondi, but especially because until then it was assumed that a black person would never be able to reach the top in swimming. According to some theory, the body of black people is supposedly not made for swimming.
Isn't it great that such a nonsense theory can be destroyed in such a grand way? I will always be grateful to Anthony for the fact that he has consigned this stereotypical theory to the land of fables in one go. Not everyone is as famous as Anthony Nesty, but there are more Surinamese who leave behind beautiful well-deserved traces here and there, I discovered this weekend.
In Cafe Outpost, where I often sit, a gym buddy happened to walk in. You know how it goes. You know each other by sight and when the opportunity arises you start a conversation. So it happened that when I said I was Surinamese, she responded with “My roommate in Vienna was Surinamese.” He is now a famous writer, she said; Clark Accord. Oh but, of course I knew Clark, I replied, but when I asked if she knew that he had passed away, she immediately became astonishedly silent. Her facial expression told me that this had come as a bolt from the blue. She already thought it was strange that he did not respond to her emails, but at the same time his Facebook page was still there. It was really quiet for a moment. She was clearly shocked while she talked about the time with Clark.
At first they couldn't stand each other, but both desperately needed a place to stay. So they were condemned to each other and eventually they were the best of friends. Both had a passion for fashion; he was a make-up artist, she a dancer. They both didn't have a nail to scratch their asses, but she wouldn't trade that time for anything. The stories, her way of talking made it clear that this Surinamese also touched people far beyond Suriname and the Netherlands. Clark Accord has, literally and figuratively, written history in his own way.
Pictured: Lesllie, former “roommate” of Clark Accord in Vienna. Owner of http://www.kim-media.com/