Diorama of a Du, Dance Celebration on the Plantation, Gerrit Schouten, 1830
wood (plant material), h c.61cm × w 69.8cm × d 17.1cm More details
In the tent we see a du, a type of role play with music and dance that was held on plantations. Both the performers and the audience were people held in slavery. The lead role was reserved for the afrankeri, the narrator (the woman on the far left). The man in the red outfit on the right represents the colonial authority. During the du, the enslaved people could vent criticism of this authority in their own language, Sranan tongo.