A boi fu mi mus go sreka! (2023)

The installation A boi fu mi mus go sreka!, (Surinamese Sranantongo for: ‘My boy must undergo an initiation ritual!’) is an installation inspired by a place where a person should undergo or has undergone a certain ‘sreka’ (initiation) for his personal winti (divinity). All elements in the installation have a symbolic meaning in the Winti culture. The traditional Afro-Surinamese Winti religion originated during the period of transatlantic slavery on plantations in Suriname, a former colony of the Netherlands. During the Dutch colonial rule in Suriname, Winti was labeled as idolatry and forbidden by the church and the Dutch state (until 1971 it was forbidden by law to practice Winti), so it was practiced in secret.

All of Linger’s artworks contain Winti elements. Through his art, Linger tries to showcase Winti to the world in a positive way, in contradiction to the negative image of Winti created by the Dutch colonial government and Christian church. He hereby contributes to the preservation, transmission and rehabilitation of Winti.