Exhibition OOSTCAST

An artistic throwback to the amazing artworks by Fré Calmes as part of our project OOSTCAST. A collab by Beyond Walls, The Black Archives, BUROBRAAK, Van Gisteren and Fré Calmes. OOSTCAST highlights the ever present stories of anti-colonial resistance and resilience related to colonial street names in Amsterdam East. It shines a critical light on these street names through education, storytelling and art. Artist Fré dove into the stories in Amsterdam Old East and created artistic reflections.

Fré: “Street names are important due to their everyday nature. They can evoke memories of both happy and unfortunate times. Since I've been living in the Netherlands, street names have taken on a different meaning for me. They are named after men who held a negative perception of my African ancestors. In this exhibition, I want to show how I now perceive these streets and buildings.”

📌🖼Tomorrow all these amazing artworks will be part of an exhibition in Hotel Arena, Amsterdam.

Welkom drinks – 17:30
Opening exhibition – 18:00
HotelArena, Oosterpark
’s-Gravesandestraat 55, Amsterdam

Fré Calmes (they/them) was born in Port-au-Prince Haiti, grew up in Curaçao, has lived in Amsterdam-East since 2013 where they work as an artist and designer. Fré is polytheistic, they grew up with Catholicism and the voodoo religion. At the age of sixteen, they chose voodoo as their sole belief. Through voodoo, Fré can connect with their ancestors and spiritual guides such as Hiro Kami, Darcko Koi, Jack Noir, and Freda Alexandra. Fré practices their own version of voodoo, or as they call it, "Neo voodooism": performing traditional voodoo rituals in an artistic form. For this exhibition, Fré has worked as Darcko Koi.

Read and listen more on Fré’s stories behind their work on www.oostcast.nl/koloniaal-oud-oost

OOSCAST is part of a multidisciplinary project on colonial streetnames. It aims to challenge colonial legacies in our shared public spaces through education, exhibitions and artistic interventions in the streets of Amsterdam.

OOSTCAST edition Amsterdam Old East is developed & produced by Beyond Walls, BUROBRAAK, The Black Archives, Van Gisteren and Fré Calmes.