HIDDEN WOODEN STORIES

Location : Research, Suriname, French Guiana, The Netherlands

Client : Stimuleringsfonds x Nieuwe Instituut

Status : Research, exhibition and documentary (20min), completed

Photograph : Ronan Liétar, Studio ACTE

Team : Studio ACTE, Ronan Liétar, Céline Frémaux, Roel Van Tour

Through the voices and eyes of locals in Guyane and Suriname, this film captures personal stories and practices that highlight the importance of wood in daily life. These narratives, often overlooked in traditional archives, provide insights into how communities connect with the forests and resources that were once plundered. Wood emerges as a vital element woven into cultural practices, identity, and survival, reflecting the deep relationships cultivated by local communities. From rituals to building processes, architecture, and landscape, the film focuses on the rooted connections between the forest and its people.

Shifting to the other side of the Atlantic, the film explores how tropical hardwoods, extracted during colonial times, are still present in the infrastructure of the Netherlands. From railways and naval vessels to urban architecture and furniture design, these stolen woods remain visible in everyday structures like mooring bollards and timber buildings, revealing the hidden colonial roots embedded in modern Dutch landscapes. Over time, industrialization in Europe not only distanced people from the cultural rituals surrounding wood but also from its origins, turning it into a practical resource, disconnected from the deep traditions and lands it came from.

By bridging the oral histories of local communities with the physical remnants of colonial exploitation in Europe, this film interrogates the long-lasting social, ecological, and economic impacts of wood plundering. As the wood trade between the Guianas and Europe remains active, the film also questions the very notion of belonging and the implications of reusing tropical woods that were once plundered, prompting reflections on ownership and responsibility in today's context.