The Spider Anansi

On World Animal Day, 4 October, the Tropenmuseum has officially opened the exhibition 'The Spider Anansi - a web of tales and images'. Fourteen artists from the Netherlands and Ghana have created works of art for this exhibition inspired by the stories about the spider Anansi. These will be displayed in combination with video registrations of storytellers recorded in the Netherlands and Ghana.

For centuries, the clever spider Anansi has been the subject of countless stories passed on from generation to generation. These stories originated in West Africa, just like the name 'Anansi', which means 'spider' in the Akan language. African slaves brought these stories to America, where they became part of the culture of countries such as Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles. Over the past 60 years, Surinamese and Antilleans have introduced these tales to the Netherlands, and the spider Anansi has become one of the most loved and well-known characters in our country.

'''Interpretations of the spider Anansi'''
Nine Ghanaian and five Dutch artists have been asked to offer their interpretation of the spider Anansi especially for this exhibition. They include respected Ghanaian artists such as Nicholas Kowalski, Glen Turner, Gabriel Eklou, Kofi Agorsor and Kofi Nduro Donkor, as well as street artists Gilbert Forson, Daniel Kpalam, Daniel Jasper and Michael Okyere.

A number of Dutch artists were also commissioned to create works for this exhibition. Stichting Beeldende Kunst Amsterdam (SBK, a Dutch visual arts foundation) asked animators Michael Veerman and Mathijs Stegink and artists Nelson Carrilho, Michael Tedja and Dwight Herald Marica to contribute to the project. Following on from the exhibition in the Tropenmuseum, the SBK will display the works of various artists dealing with the Anansi theme for nine months.

RESULTS
Exhibition