Jonathan Robert Sutrisno Tjien Fooh

Storyteller, Ethnographic researcher & Programme maker

To begin, my story does not consist out of a straight line; a beginning and an end. My story is rather a very messy curvy journey, filled with constantly learning, unlearning, and rediscovering what it means to be human. Through this space, I’ll share a glimpse of my journey and many inspiring stories and people that have touched my heart in one way or another.

I am a Surinamese – born storyteller, poet, writer, ethnographic researcher, activist, anthropologist, and programme maker. Fueled by a never-ending curiosity and passion to learn more about everything, I have always travelled between different disciplines. The common thread that seeps through everything that I do, is my passion to untangle systems of oppression and exclusion, create space for stories that are often ignored or erased, and facilitate projects that are grounded in human rights approaches, remixing art and storytelling, equity, liberation, justice, care, regeneration, and healing.

In 2020, I moved from Suriname in the midst of a pandemic to study the master’s programme in Cultural Anthropology: Sustainable Citizenship at Utrecht University after three years of working full time as Field researcher at Green Heritage Fund Suriname and Youth Advocate for Monitoring & Evaluation and Social Inclusion at UNICEF Guyana & Suriname. Echoing Nina Simone’s quote ‘It is an artists’ duty to reflect the times that we live in today’, I carry these words as a mantra wherever I find myself. Living in a country like the Netherlands that previously colonized Suriname, provided me with this ‘in between’, insider/outsider lens, which has molded me into a human being with a critical yet open perspective that strives for equity and justice, wherever I see exclusion and oppression take place. However, I am also aware that decolonization is not just about untangling systems outside of us, it also requires inside work and critical self-reflection. I also have a lot of learning/ unlearning to do of prejudices and colonial ways of thinking that were instilled in me, growing up in a post-colonial country.

These qualities of remixing art & storytelling, decolonial thinking, healing, resistance, liberation, and uncovering erased/ untold stories are qualities that I embed in my work as a researcher, programme maker at Pakhuis de Zwijger, writer of the children’s book ‘De Magische Tuin van Mbah Semie’, and as a Poet/ Storyteller part of PoetryCircle Amsterdam.

You can find my CV here.