I chose a gobelin because in my current -mixed media- work I mainly focus on textiles.
The gobelin shows a romantic rococo depiction of two rich white ladies sitting on a bench in an idyllic mountain landscape. What if the ladies on the gobelin were black? Like in the popular American Netflix series Bridgerton where many noblemen are black.
There are many developments that are instigating a turning point in our society in terms of tolerance for other cultures and a different view of relationships in history.
Think e.g. to the Zwarte Piet discussion and to Black Live Matters. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema apologized on behalf of Amsterdam for the role of the capital in slavery and King Willem-Alexander decided not to use the Golden carriage for the time being.
And it's not just about political or government positions.
Research by the Social Cultural Planning Office (SCP) from 2018 indicates that more than a quarter of the Dutch still experience discrimination.
Take art with its critical reflection of the world. It is not for nothing that also in 'our' art world there is more attention and interest for women, gender, skin color and other minority issues.