Work cannot be separated from the economic system. In the current capitalist system, labor and nature are exploited for profit. Exchange proposes an alternative. He presents a bank that is not focused on profit maximization but on serving man and nature. The project is a co production between Rob Voerman and Stichting Kaikoesie. Erik Vos/Het Lab (design Surinamese banknotes)and Karim Benamar.

Voerman is often inspired by modernist architecture and the utopian ideas about society on which they are based. His work questions the way in which societies function and might function in the future. Often it is possible for the viewer to interact with the works; they can enter it and sleep, work and drink inside the installations.

Especially for this exhibition about work, Voerman created a site specific work in which visitors can invest in a sustainable ecosystem. In this alternative bank visitors can exchange euro’s for ‘Equator’, money.
The banknotes show symbols that er related to history and identity of three villages in Suriname: Pierre Kondre, Bigi Ston, Alfonsdorp and show things that are important to them. The euros exchanged for Equator is invested in the villages. This currency gives indigenous people in Suriname the power to preserve their land, identity culture and ecosystem.
In the vault of the bank are displayed important objects of Suriname’s indigenous community whilst a soundscape of life in the Amazone plays in the background. On the wall hangs a portrait of Inge Pierre an activist and founder of Stichting Kaikoesie committed to sustain indigenous way of living.

Babel, a print displayed in the bank, shows different bank-buildings with at its center a wooden Tower of Babel-like structure. The wooden structure refers to the BIS Bank in Basel, also called “The Tower of Basel” because of its resemblance in shape to the Tower of Babel. The BIS Bank is a slightly mysterious bank, which partially functions as a base for the major banks in the world to brainstorm about future strategies.

Rob Voerman