Research in progress
The Helstone Collections: between heritage, research and artistic practice
This event focuses on the Helstone collections. Through (artistic) research and language, we explore how this legacy takes on meaning today, inspiring new interpretations, questions and insights.
Program
- Presentation of theatre maker Mathieu Wijdeven’s artistic research for his production: Helstone in het Pand der Goden
- Abram de Swaan on the reissue of the grammar book Wan spraakkunst vo taki en skrifi da tongo vo sranan (1903) by J.N. Helston
- Final presentation of Marek Susdorf’s research: Missionary of European Music: Life of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone Amid the Rise of Colonial Modernity in Suriname
Marek Susdorf is a music sociologist and, as part of the Helstone Fellowship, is conducting research in the Allard Pierson Museum’s collections into how music functioned within the broader power structures of Dutch colonialism. He is investigating the role of classical music within the colonial and post-colonial context of Suriname, with a particular focus on the works of Helstone and other composers from the Surinamese and Caribbean diaspora.
The Helstone Fellowship is funded by the recently established fund named after Astrid Helstone (great-grandniece of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone) and Diederik Burgersdijk at the Allard Pierson. Through this fund, they aim to encourage research into the unique Helstone and Surinamica collections, and to contribute to the uncovering of under-represented musical and cultural histories.