Motel 123 and the Tennis Court: The locations in the photos were maintained by Suralco and are no longer in use. That is, of course, a pity, but it is also part of the disappearance of segregation in Moengo’s public spaces

Seraven’s grandfather worked in the mine. The town of Moengo in Suriname was founded and built in the early twentieth century by the American mining company Suralco. They mined bauxite, the raw material used to produce aluminum. Much of this aluminum was used to manufacture American fighter planes, which were in particularly high demand during the Second World War. The Dutch colonial powers, however, always kept a firm grip on the operations and maintained deep involvement. When Suralco had nearly exhausted the mine in 2014, and there was literally and figuratively little left to extract, they packed up and abandoned everything they had built

The abandoned social spaces where former Suralco staff members once spent their leisure time, such as the swimming pool, the tennis court, the Beatrix Theater, and the Casa Blanca club. In this context, I posed the question of what the value of these places is today and how the community of Moengo relates to them

These places carry a double meaning: they served their function as spaces for relaxation and recreation, while at the same time emphasizing the separation that existed between different groups. For example, staff members could go both to their own swimming pools and to those of the monthly and weekly laborers, whereas the latter group was only allowed to use their own pool. In the Beatrix Theater, the arrangement of the seating created a similar division. An important question in my research is: to what extent are you defined by the space you inhabit?