SESSION: Dutch Nurses

Iris Kensmil's drawing installation Dutch Nurses (2015) portrays several Surinamese nurses that came to the Netherlands in the mid-twentieth century. A nurse, Kensmil’s mother, is featured in the installation. The installation was informed by the book Zusters Uit Suriname (2003), where the late author Annemarie Cottaar describes the policy and programs for training, recruiting, and immigrating Suriname nurses to the post-war Netherlands.

Inspired by this art installation and by the history book, and with an interest to learn more about the current healthcare context in the Netherlands and Suriname, we have organized a dynamic program to be held within Kensmil’s current solo exhibition, Some of My Souls.

The program takes place on 18 March at 6 pm, in the second-floor gallery. It begins with a piano concert with Djuwa Mroivili, performing music by overlooked Black female composers. This will be followed by a brief artist’s talk about Dutch Nurses in the auditorium. The event will continue with a conversation between Herman Jintie, general director at Medical Mission Primary Health Care Suriname, a non-profit organization that provides primary care in predominantly rural areas and a nurse practitioner, and healthcare researchers from Erasmus University, Pauline Meurs, Oemar van der Woerd, and Iris Wallenburg. At 8 pm, we will host a wine reception at our MELLY Bookshop and Cantina for the artist, speakers, and general public. You are welcome!

On view until 20 March 2022, the exhibition Iris Kensmil: Some of My Souls at Kunstinstituut Melly is curated by director Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy; this public program is organized by Julija Mockutė, curatorial assistant.