Nieuwe Instituut and Sarmad Platform launch their publishing collaboration “Kas di Shon” with a panel discussion on the relationship between design, power and resistance. The book’s author, the one and only Miguel Peres dos Santos, will elaborate on his essay and take part in the discussion about it.

We, in Sarmad, had the pleasure of designing and editing Miguel’s brilliant essay in the form of a trilingual book (English, Dutch, Papiamento).



“Kas di Shon” literally translates to “the master’s house” (on plantations in Curaçao) and the essay departs from NI’s question, “how can we work towards a non-racist, inclusive society”. 

At the institute’s invitation, artist, researcher and filmmaker Miguel Peres dos Santos has written a critical analysis of the ways in which architecture is inextricably linked to the legacy of colonial thought and the frameworks that have literally and figuratively given shape to that thought over time. Peres dos Santos draws inspiration from the Nieuwe Instituut building, designed by Jo Coenen in 1992 for what was then the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi). He reflects on the persistence of institutional power structures in Europe and links them to the colonial architecture of the time of slavery in Curaçao. Sarmad Platform compiled the trilingual book (English, Dutch and Papiamento), supplementing the text with notes and images.










many thanks to Flora van Gaalen and Niek van der Meer of Het Nieuwe Instituut for their kindness, time and their efforts in translation and many back-and-forth correspondences.

thank you Drukkerij de Boog (Herman Keerbaas) for the professional printing.