Slavernijverleden | Richard Kofi

Bittere Oogst (2025)

From April 18 to August 31, 2025, Valkhof Museum presents the exhibition Bittere Oogst/Bitter Harvest. The exhibition reveals the hidden history of slavery and resistance through a unique diorama of a Surinamese coffee plantation from 1823, crafted by Gerrit Schouten. Artist Richard Kofi made the drawings for the poster of the exhibit. His project Draden van ons Nederlandse slavernijverleden is part of the exhibition's program.

Fragment of a tapestry design made by Richard Kofi, showing a group of characters on the left representing the Ashanti king of Ghana and his entourage. In the middle you see the spirit of Moluccan resistance fighter Christina Martha and to the right you see Roosje, an enslaved Moluccan women. The spirit of Christina Martha is directing large waves to flush away everything in the larger landscape that has to do with the slavery past. It's a purge.

Draden van ons Nederlandse Slavernijverleden (2025)

In every province of the Netherlands, residents are working together on an impressive tapestry that depicts the regional history of the colonial slavery past. For Gelderland, artist and curator Richard Kofi designed a tapestry no less than 35 meters long, which expresses both history and hope for the future.