Please note, the working language of this programme is English.
This programme is devoted to the Helstone collections. Through (artistic) research and language exploration, we investigate how this legacy acquires meaning today, inspires new interpretations, questions and insights.
Marek Susdorf is a music sociologist who, as part of the Helstone fellowship, is researching in the collections of the Allard Pierson how music functioned within the broader power structures of Dutch colonialism. He examines the role of classical music within the colonial and postcolonial context of Suriname, with a particular focus on the oeuvre of Helstone and other composers from the Surinamese and Caribbean diaspora.
The Helstone fellowship is funded by the recently established fund in the name of Astrid Helstone (great-grand-niece of Johannes Nicolaas Helstone) and Diederik Burgersdijk at the Allard Pierson.