Interview Marisella de Cuba

Marisella de Cuba is an anti-racism activist and founded the We Promise Foundation in 2019. The action group fights against discrimination, racism, and injustice in the Netherlands and seeks to raise awareness about the Jan Pieterszoon Coen monument in Hoorn.

“On June 19, 2020, we organized a major Down with the J.P. Coen monument action. We did this after many attempts to talk to the Municipality of Hoorn about the future of the monument," De Cuba explains. According to De Cuba, the municipality hardly responded to the call for a conversation about the monument. “The municipality did not consider the conversation urgent enough. Demonstrating is our last resort; our goal is social awareness and change. In response to the demonstration, the municipality wanted to engage in discussions with the citizens of Hoorn through the 'City Talks on Racism and Discrimination in Hoorn.' However, the municipality hired a predominantly white agency to mediate this. As a result, there was little affinity with the issues of racism, discrimination, and J.P. Coen. In fact, they were hardly addressed at all.”

The talks did not lead to an initiative to remove the monument. As long as the statue remains, We Promise continues to demonstrate and comes up with various actions, from demonstrating with signs to musical interventions. “For several years, We Promise has been seeking input from descendants of enslaved persons regarding potential solutions. I believe I shouldn't determine this solution, as I am not a descendant of the victims of J.P. Coen. I am a citizen of Hoorn, and I find it a hurtful statue; it is a symbol of colonialism. I don't understand why this statue is still standing."

The museum is an option

We Promise and the descendants would prefer the statue to be removed, but they can agree to the idea of relocating it to a museum. In the museum, the statue must be provided with the right context, with a more complete story, along with visit arrangements for students. De Cuba continues: “Context has already been provided to the statue through a QR code. However, the context is incomplete, and in my opinion, almost no one scans the code. The statue stands on a prominent square in Hoorn, and it symbolizes much more than just history. It symbolizes municipal politics, which is quite right-wing in Hoorn. A motion to remove the statue would not pass."

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) recommends in the report Unstable Pedestals. Controversial monuments in public spaces to complement disputed monuments, for example, with a critical framing, a counter-statue, or artistic transformation. De Cuba does not envision that J.P. Coen can be provided with a recontextualization: “I don't think we should consider placing counter-statues for perpetrators of genocide; it doesn't fit. The descendants also find that inappropriate. The statue should disappear, and collectively, we need to decide what can replace it. I hope we can have the conversation in Hoorn."

About Marisella de Cuba

Marisella de Cuba is an anti-racism activist and founded the We Promise Foundation in 2019. The action group fights against discrimination, racism, and injustice in the Netherlands and aims to increase awareness of the Jan Pieterszoon Coen monument in Hoorn. The statue of J.P. Coen is highly controversial due to J.P. Coen's role in the Dutch colonial past. There has been resistance against the statue since its installation in 1893. Marisella is a resident of Hoorn and, as such, has a keen insight into the handling of the contentious monument.