The Need for Legacy - Onthulling nieuw schilderij van de hand van Cliff san A Jong

In 2021, Brian Elstak made a painting of black theatre pioneer Rufus Collins. This portrait made it clear that some people and legacies, like Rufus', made an indelible impression. The 2022 painting celebrated the power of the collective and recognised overseas colonial history as an essential part of Dutch history. Iris Kensmil portrayed the Doe theatre for this purpose.

This year, we have chosen to portray multi-disciplinary theatre maker Felix de Rooy. Felix is a visual artist, actor and film and theatre director from Curaçao. In 1979, De Rooy received the Cola Debrot Prize, the highest cultural award of the Antilles. He received Het Gouden Kalf and the special jury prize at the Amiens International Film Festival for his film Ava & Gabriel (1990). In 2000, De Rooy was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau. And in 2017, he received the Black Achievement Award for his entire oeuvre.

In his work, he lifts up the Western fragmentation of different art forms. In choosing Felix, The Need for Legacy aims to showcase a part of Dutch theatre history, in which the pursuit of a free, inclusive and fluid approach to the art of theatre is key.
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As in the past two years, with this third work we hope to jointly do justice to the histories of people and legacies that are currently not visible and widely known. With this multi-year collaboration between The Need for Legacy, het Nederlands Theaterfestival and Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, we hope that (future) theatre visitors will also be able to recognise themselves even more on the theatre walls and stage. The painting will be revealed by Touria Meliani, Alderman for Arts and Culture. The unveiling of this painting will be accompanied by a programme with guests who will discuss the content of the painting.

This year's portrait is created by Cliff San A Jong. Cliff studied in Paramaribo and the Netherlands. His work is characterised by a strong magical realism. Belonging to the Surinamese School, Cliff's work has been exhibited and included in the Stedelijk Museum's collection.

The unveiling is a programme by The Need for Legacy in cooperation with Internationaal Theater Amsterdam and Nederlands Theater Festival.

The creation of the painting was made possible by the generous support of Rob and Marijke van Oordt-Jones, and other private donors to ITA.