The Untangled Tales 1 & 2
’The Untangled Tales’ visualizes traditions stemming from the slave plantations – such as the Anansi-storytellers’ tales and the Angisa-folders’ attire – and the ways in which these traditions allow us a glimpse into the years of slavery.
Once upon a time, long ago….
On the plantations, tales were told that everyone could hear, but not everyone could understand. Countless stories tell of the mythical spider Anansi, who repeatedly had to deal with a tiger trying to make his life a misery. Although the spider was physically weaker, it was often able to defeat the tiger with its cleverness and cunning. These stories, passed down from Africa to Suriname and from generation to generation allowed the enslaved to share their thoughts without the plantation owner knowing what was actually meant. The same applied to the Angisa: the headscarves the women wore were not simply a piece of cloth; their intricate folds contained hidden stories and wisdom.
The second chapter of this work deals with songs that were sung aboard the working boats of Suriname’s rivers, which was common for all repetitive work. Only a few of the songs have survived. They were often structured as a question and answer. Dealing with the life of the enslaved and their struggles and sorrows in a language the rulers did not understand, these songs echoed across the water.
