Amongst the 17 truly remarkable volumes, published by the acclaimed photographer and PhD researcher, Nicola Lo Calzo, in the course of his prolific creative practice, we’re delighted to showcase several of these rare books within the gallery’s carefully curated selection, including the following gem, entitled: Obia | Maroons of the Guianas | From Antislavery Struggles to Mass Society.

In this superb photographic anthem — exploring the historical Maroon territories of Saamaka-Land and Maroni-Land, in both Suriname and French Guiana – La Calzo seeks to interrogate the links between the exceptional magical and religious legacies of Maroon people, as well as the challenges stemming from modernity, specifically the ongoing acculturation and the counterweight deculturation unfolding amongst new generations.

Despite having played a fundamental role in the anti-slavery struggle and identity construction of the African Diaspora in the Americas, Marronage, which is still poorly understood, is without a doubt the form of slave resistance that has most fed the imagination of Black communities in the Americas. 

Marronnage created communities that wrested themselves free of slavery and proclaimed their sovereignty in the New World. These communities of runaway slaves were found throughout the Americas, from Louisiana, to Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Brazil, and the two Guianas, among others.  Some of the descendants of these societies continue to exist today.

They are the gatekeepers of a little known self-emancipation narrative. This is the story of the Maroons of the Guianas, also known as Businenge or Bushinengue.   Maroons were especially numerous in the Dutch colony of Suriname (and a small number moved into the western part of French Guiana during the mid 18^th century), in part due to the extreme forms of brutality meted out to enslaved peoples on these colonial plantations.

Today, Suriname and French Guiana count six groups of Maroons: Saamaka, Ndyuka, Aluku, Pamaka, Matawai and Kwinti. Having evolved alongside Amerindian societies, Maroons are increasingly confronted with the complexities of the transmission of their heritage - mostly based on oral tradition - within a broader society that favours urban models of integration. 

The new societies in which they find themselves when they move to the cities, do not consider the specificities of their culture nor their claims as indigenous peoples. After abandoning their forest-nestled communities and migrating to urban centres, new forms of identity have come to the fore, as younger Maroons turn their backs on traditional practices in favor of new success-oriented societal values. 

The Obia photographic project -- undertaken in the historical Maroon territories of Saamaka-Land and Maroni-Land, in both Suriname and French Guiana – seeks to interrogate the links between the exceptional magical-religious legacy of Maroon people and the new challenges that stem from modernity: the ongoing acculturation among new generations and the counterweight produced by deculturation.

Additionally, Obia calls for a rethink of the connections between historical marronage and challenges pertaining to contemporary immigration and, not least, between the memories of the colonial past and accommodations with the postcolonial present.