In the 1980s, several initiatives were launched to improve the provision of information in the Netherlands about Black, migrant and refugee women (ZMV women). Both in Women’s Studies and in (women’s) libraries, information and documentation centres, and archives, a white perspective was often central. Frustrations regarding this came to a head at a key moment of awareness-raising during the Winter University for Women’s Studies in Nijmegen in 1983.
In the 1980s, several initiatives were launched to improve the provision of information in the Netherlands about Black, migrant and refugee women (ZMV women). Both in Women’s Studies and in (women’s) libraries, information and documentation centres, and archives, a white perspective was often central. Frustrations regarding this came to a head at a key moment of awareness-raising during the Winter University for Women’s Studies in Nijmegen in 1983.
"The idea of setting up a Black Women’s Centre arose from the profound disappointment felt by some twenty Black women when they attended the Winter University for Women’s Studies (WUV) in Nijmegen in December 1983. They had travelled to the WUV with high hopes, but found themselves experiencing for the second time – the first time having been at the Summer University in 1981 – that the entire programme contained not a single topic relating to issues affecting Black women.
At the opening of the WUV, the group of Black women voiced their protest against this form of discrimination and decided to form their own Black women’s group, for which a separate agenda would be drawn up each day. This also marked the start of a series of discussions about the need to establish a dedicated Black Women’s Centre. This should be a central hub where Black women can meet, coordinate their activities, and turn to for information relevant to them on any subject whatsoever.
Having its own library and documentation centre is a crucial factor in this. For amongst the many women’s libraries, archives and documentation centres that already exist, there is as yet none dedicated to Black women, focused on their own struggles and issues, and established from their own perspective. Such a library and documentation centre could focus on collecting information for and about Black women, and above all, all information produced by Black women.” From: Flamboyant Newsletter 6 (June 1987).
Flamboyant
Against this backdrop, a group of Black women founded the Flamboyant Foundation in 1985 as a meeting and documentation centre to support the gender equality of Black, migrant and refugee women (ZMV women) in the Netherlands. Flamboyant carried out an extensive survey to assess the current state of information provision for and about Black, migrant and refugee women in the Netherlands. Through four bibliographies, they demonstrated the importance of having their own library and documentation centre. White documentation centres and libraries lacked the necessary perspective, vision and focus to identify BMW information and make it visible using relevant keywords. Through this research, Flamboyant also highlighted the white perspective of the International Information Centre and Archive for the Women’s Movement (IIAV), the predecessor of the current Atria.
ZMV information provision
Regardless of the need for a dedicated centre, government funding was only available for a project aimed at improving ZMV information provision within existing libraries and documentation centres. When the funding was withdrawn, Flamboyant was forced to close its doors in 1991. The ZAMI Foundation took over Flamboyant’s role as a meeting place, and the IIAV received the grant to improve ZMV information provision.
ZMV projects
The three-year Information Services Project for Black and Migrant Women (ZMV-I) was launched in 1992. It was succeeded by the Pattipilohy Project in 1997. This project was named after Cisca Pattipilohy, who, as a librarian and documentalist, was instrumental in establishing the ZMV information services. The ZMV projects were intended to bring about a complete cultural shift within the IIAV, whereby expertise in providing ZMV information would be sustainably embedded in the IIAV’s day-to-day operations and general policy. Thus, in addition to improving the Vrouwenthesaurus and the services provided, the projects were also aimed at expanding the collection of ZMV material. Fostering expertise was a key aspect of this.
"If an organisation lacks sufficient in-house expertise on Black women, it cannot build up and maintain a good collection. In that case, it may happen that only best-selling authors such as Arundhati Roy are acquired, rather than an important title such as *The Empire Writes Back*, an anthology of articles by various Black academics on the influence of white culture on Black literature. If a white collection with a black veneer is created, we are still not where we need to be."
To ensure that the necessary expertise was available, the ZMV projects also emphasised the need to build up a representative workforce, and to sustain knowledge of, and maintain contact with, ZMV women and organisations. To assess what information was required, the project staff of the Pattipilohy Project conducted individual and group interviews with ZMV women. They also emphasised, for example, the importance of passing on unwritten stories (oral history).
Disseminating ZMV knowledge
The ZMV projects also focused on disseminating knowledge about ZMV. A key outcome of the collaboration between the ZMV-I project and ZMV women’s organisations was the exhibition and lecture series *Underexposed: Black Migrant and Refugee Women in the Netherlands: Information Exchange in Perspective*. In her opening speech on 1 May 1995, Angela Davis emphasised the international nature of the struggle of Black, Migrant and Refugee Women.
"The exhibition *Onderbelicht*, as Gloria Wekker has emphasised, symbolises Black women’s refusal to be erased from Dutch history. *Onderbelicht* shows that Black women are here, that they are part of this country’s history, that they are here and that they are here to stay!"
Making information provision more inclusive
The history of the ZMV projects at the IIAV, alongside other stories about making information provision more inclusive in Dutch alternative archives and documentation centres, is explored in greater depth in the exhibition ‘The Archive in Development: Behind the Scenes of Alternative Archives in the Netherlands’. This exhibition focuses on a number of snapshots from the history of the Dutch Lesbian Archives, the Documentation Centre for Gay Studies, and the IIAV. In doing so, the exhibition also provides an insight into the background to the current institutions, Atria and IHLIA LGBTI Heritage.
