"Building Our Monuments' Video art by Jessy de Abreu on the evolution of The Black Archives

The Black Archives is an Amsterdam-based historical archive for conversations, activities, and literature from Black and other perspectives that are often overlooked elsewhere. The Black Archives documents the history of black emancipation movements and individuals in the Netherlands, and consists of unique book collections, archives, and artifacts that are the legacy of Black Dutch writers and scientists. The approximately 3,000 books in the collections focus on racism and race issues, slavery and (de-)colonization, gender and feminism, social sciences and development, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles, South America, Africa and more.

We refuse to let the European master narrative control our archives.

We refuse that it dominates our memories, thoughts, and emotions. Our peaceful efforts for non-western narratives has often been met with (racial) violence. This video, based on own documentations from 2016–2018, shows how we cherish times of joy, pleasure, and laughter in a world that does not wants us to keep smiling. These moments become sacred to us as we hope that they will last forever.
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Monument is a collaboration between e-flux Architecture and Het Nieuwe Instituut.

Building Our Monuments – The Black Archives from Het Nieuwe Instituut on Vimeo.