NO OCEAN BETWEEN US – The Surinamese collection

NO OCEAN BETWEEN US – The Surinamese collection

05/05/2023 - 27/05/2023

Starting from Friday, May 5, Readytex Art Gallery would like to welcome you to a special exhibition titled NO OCEAN BETWEEN US – The Surinamese Collection. Here, visitors will finally get the opportunity to personally enjoy the contribution of our Surinamese artists to a traveling exhibition that was on display in various museums and institutes throughout the USA in 2020 and 2021. The exhibition showcased upwards of 65 modern and contemporary works of art from Latin-American and Caribbean artists of Asian descent.  

Originally inspired by the permanent collection of the Organization of American States | Art Museum of the Americas and curated by Adriana Ospina, ‘Acting Director and Collection Curator’ of the Art Museum of the Americas at the OAS, the first exhibition was shown in October 2020 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts in Michigan, under the title: Cultural Encounters: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1945 – Present.  Subsequently, the exhibition then titled No Ocean between us: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean, 1945 – Present, was shown at: San Antonio Museum of Art in San Antonio, Texas; Art Museum of the Americas in Washington DC; Arthur Ross Gallery at the University of Pennsylvania and Middlebury College Museum of Art in Middlebury, Vermont.

In a diverse collection of paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and mixed media works by artists from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname, and Trinidad & Tobago, visitors were guided along a geographical journey, during which they could explore the influence of migration and diaspora on the work and experiences of these artists with Asian roots. It is worth mentioning that the exhibitions in the USA included a striking artwork by the late Soeki Irodikromo, one that is part of the permanent collection of the Organization of American States | Art Museum of the Americas.  

Recently, the works of the other Surinamese artists returned from their long journey through the US. Readytex Art Gallery and the artists involved, agreed that it is most appropriate to now show the public in Suriname what they contributed to this special traveling exhibition. In No Ocean Between Us – The Surinamese Collection you can thus enjoy the various works of art with which Reinier Asmoredjo, Sri Irodikromo, Sunil Puljhun, Kit-Ling Tjon Pian Gi, Dhiradj Ramsamoedj and René Tosari, represented our country and their Asian roots.

No Ocean Between Us – The Surinamese Collection, can be visited in Readytex Art Gallery from Friday, May 5, until Saturday, May 27, during the regular opening hours of the gallery. These are from Monday – Friday, from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm and on Saturday from 8:30 am – 1:30 pm.

You are most welcome!  

Team Readytex Art Gallery