As part of the public program of the exhibition Colonial Memory in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collections, the museum is pleased to invite historical researches Ineke Mok and Dineke Stam to share with the public of Madrid their recent research on the colonial imprint in the city of Haarlem during the 17^th century and, more specifically, on the masterpiece Family Group in a Landscape, 1645-48, by Frans Hals.

Taking as a starting point their recent book Haarlemmers en de slavernij (Haarlemmers and Slavery), which highlights the history of slavery and colonialism in more than one hundred places in the city of Haarlem, Ineke Mok and Dineke Stam focus their presentation on the portraits of Frans Hals. What was his relationship to colonialism and slavery? Who did he portray?

With regard to the family portrait in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, whose protagonists have remained anonymous to this day, they also ask: Which family may be pictured here? Who is the African boy depicted in the centre of the composition?

Ineke Mok

While studying Dutch, Ineke Mok (1959) specialized in the relationship between power and language, after which she obtained her PhD with a thesis on racism and 'race' in Dutch school textbooks from 1876-1992.

After working at the Anne Frank House she focused on independent research and developed educational projects, a.o. the educational comic book Quaco, mijn leven in slavernij (Quaco, my life in slavery), about the boy John Gabriel Stedman held in slavery. Recently she conducted local research on the history of slavery, in the province of Gelderland and the cities Arnhem and Haarlem. She lives in Haarlem and co-authored Haarlemmers en de slavernij (Haarlemmers and Slavery) (2023).

Dineke Stam

Historian Dineke Stam lives in Amsterdam. She worked as an exhibition maker at the Anne Frank House and project leader of Intercultural Programs Heritage-wide at the Museum Association. Since 2005, with her own agency IMHP, she has focused on projects on gender and women's history, World War II and the Holocaust, and colonial and slavery history. Among others, she is co-author of The Netherlands' slavery heritage guide (2019) and Haarlemmers en de slavernij (Haarlemmers and slavery) (2023).

Ineke Mok and Dineke Stam

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