Typomento: Roots of Resistance
21 oktober – 28 oktober 2025
Kevin Rooi
Vrijdenkersfestival. In collaboration with and on display at Oscam
Typomento: Roots of Resistance is a visual exploration of Papiamento by artist and letter designer Kevin Rooi. It is a response to exclusion and a celebration of identity, asking the question: who is truly free to belong? The exhibtion can be visited at Oscam.
Coming to the Netherlands from the ABC islands, Kevin arrived with expectations of opportunity, but instead was met with an identity crisis. Despite holding a Dutch passport, he was seen as neither fully Dutch nor truly international. He existed in an in-between space, where his background was often misunderstood or ignored. The education system didn’t account for the gap between Caribbean and Dutch academic standards. He struggled to keep up in classrooms where teachers couldn’t connect with his cultural perspective.
In response, Kevin turned to creativity. He created Typomento, a visual exploration of Papiamento. His goal was to make the language visible and to share his culture in a way that opened minds rather than closed doors. The project helped him reconnect with his roots and challenges the idea that design must fit a narrow definition.
Typomento: Roots of Resistance can be visited in Oscam, Museum for art, fashion, design, craftsmanship and development at Amsterdamse Poort.
Oscam
Amsterdamse Poort
Bijlmerplein 110-111
1102 DB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Opening hours 10AM – 6PM (Saturday 5PM)
About Vrijdenkersfestival
During the sixth edition of Vrijdenkersfestival, we will honor, question, and continue the Amsterdam tradition of liberal-mindedness. With online echo chambers growing louder and public debate is increasingly about choosing sides, we offer the stage to contemporary free thinkers who prefer doubt over certainty. Who would rather ask good questions than give the right answers. Who dare to assume they might be wrong. And in doing so, chart their own course—free from dogma, labels, and authority. Or, as Annie M.G. Schmidt perhaps captured the spirit of free thinking best: ‘Never do as your mother said, and all will turn out fine instead.’
Roxane Gay, Pim Lammers, Rita Baroud, Maurits de Bruijn, De dolle mina’s en Femke Halsema
Met Roxane Gay, Pim Lammers, Rita Baroud, Jan Hoek, Maurits de Bruijn, Tatjana Almuli, De dolle mina’s, Mieke Aerts, Marianne Braun, Femke Halsema en Kevin Rooi 21 – 28 okt bij De Balie, OSCAM, Podium Mozaïek en DAT!school mede mogelijk gemaakt door: De Amsterdamse traditie van vrijzinnigheid wordt geëerd, bevraagd én voortgezet tijdens de zesde
With this pole dancing relay, sex workers and erotic dancers reclaim public space for one night. Organized by No Limits! Art Castle, Full Service Productions, and De Balie.
