Our film Of Us, directed by Liara Barussi, is featuring in Not My Soul, an exhibition at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam, presented in partnership with the National Slavery Museum.
Not My Soul explores stories of slavery, law and freedom, tracing connections between antiquity and Suriname. The exhibition shares insights into how Roman law influenced later systems of enslavement in Suriname, and on how enslaved people across both periods lived, resisted, and sought freedom.
Through archaeological artefacts and objects from the Surinamica collections, Not My Soul re-examines histories that have too often been told from the perspective of those in power from emperors, plantation owners to colonial rulers. Instead, this exhibition centres the humanity, creativity and resilience of those whose freedom was taken from them.
Contemporary artworks sit alongside ancient objects, offering new ways to see and feel this shared history. Our film Of Us stands among these works, a poetic reflection on identity, memory and collective experience alongside artists including Kathryn Smith & Pearl Mamathuba, Sarojini Lewis, and René Tavares.
René Tavares’s Making Memories in front of Memories (2023), from the Schulting Art Collection, depicts a Black family posing before a painting of a cotton plantation: the backdrop evokes the colonial past, but the family does not look back. The work invites reflection on how the past persists, and how new generations negotiate its legacy with strength and dignity.
Not My Soul invites visitors to look again at the past, to listen deeply, to question, and to see from another perspective. This exhibition places the stories of enslaved people at its heart: people whose freedom was taken from them, yet who, through their work, creativity, care, language, love and resistance, held on to their humanity. It calls us to re-examine history with empathy and awareness, and to find new meaning in voices too long unheard.
Of Us, originally commissioned by Dr Aleema Gray for the British Library.
Credits:
A Jukebox Collective Production
Director: Liara Barussi
Movement Director: Liara Barussi
Producer: Lauren Patterson
DOP: Nathan O’Kelly
Sound Design: An excerpt of ‘Omi’
Created by Felix Taylor and Melo-Zed in Collaboration with Touching Bass
Music supervision by Alex Rita and Tayo Rapoport
Stylist: Lauren Anne Groves
Creative Consultant: Leyman Lahcine
Starring: Jukebox Academy: Gui Pinto, Venice Williams, Monet Williams, Teaghan Scanlon, Karim Mohamed, Fatima Jarju, Ayoola Wonder, Elizabeth Oredola, Perez Rodriques, Rio Rodriques, Quincy Chambers, Akeylah Hinton, Blessing Oredola, Sheighley-Sky
Movement Assistants: Darnell Williams, Naomi Ferne, Patrik Gabco, Millie Campion
Hair Stylist: Trent Jackson
Barber: Isaac Omoyibo
Editor: Pawel Achtelik
Colourist: Sharon Chung
Casting: Jukebox Collective
Stylist Assistants: Eliza Goldsmith, Maisie Edwards
1st AC: Tom Parry
2nd AC: Lewis Morgan
Camera Trainee: Connor O’Kelly
Catering: Lane Locations, Lara Smrtnik
Runners: Tarina Tajul, Samandal Sidig, Elina Lee, Genaya Parris, Angelina Rodriques
Fashion Brands: Miguel Brito, Ahluwalia, Jawara Alleyne, Nym Promprasert, Alexandra Armata, Rains, Danshan, Kiko Kostadinov, Renli Su, Maxine O’Sullivan, Azulmain, Tazmin Porter, Viola Gibellini, Anyi Tang
BTS Photographer: Joe Andrews
Post-House: Avenues
Post-Producer: Amanda Jenkins
Graphic Design: Henny Valentino
