Maroon heritage

Afu-Mena

“cherish what you have” — Pamaka

The group's name comes from Pamaka, one of the Maroon languages of Suriname and French Guiana. That name is not an ornament: it is how the group works.

The name

What Afu-Mena means

Afu-Mena means “cherish what you have” in Pamaka, one of the Maroon languages of Suriname and French Guiana. It is a statement about attitude: acknowledge the value of what is already present before looking for what is missing.

For the group that attitude translates into a way of working: recognising, developing and maximising existing talents, resources, opportunities and cultural strengths. It applies to an entrepreneur sharpening a business model just as much as to a region adding value to its own raw materials and craftsmanship.

Cherish what you have. Build what is possible.

An evening gathering of dance and rhythm.

Dancers in red wrapped cloths, seen from behind, during an evening gathering. — An evening gathering of dance and rhythm.

Communities

One name, several Maroon communities

The name of the group comes from Pamaka. The work reaches wider: in the art and heritage branch Afu-Mena promotes Saamaka and Businenge heritage internationally and supports local artisans in doing so.

We name that distinction deliberately. The name refers to one Maroon language; the craft and culture we work with are broader than that single community.

East Suriname

The Maroon culture of East Suriname

Dugout canoe running a rapid, with white foaming water and forest behind. — Running the rapids.

The group has its roots in the Maroon communities of East Suriname, in the region around the Maroni river that connects Suriname and French Guiana. On both banks of that river live Maroon communities connected through language, family and trade.

Several Maroon languages are spoken in this region, among them Pamaka. These languages carry knowledge, history and stories from one generation to the next.

Among the best known cultural expressions of the Maroons are the woodcarving and textile art known as tembe: a visual language of interlocking lines, curves and angular symmetry, applied to household objects, buildings and clothing among other things.

This description is deliberately kept general. The group speaks for itself, not on behalf of communities or traditions.

Tembe

A visual language, not decoration

Tembe is a visual language of interlocking curves, symmetry and repetition, applied to houses, door frames, roof shields and textile. These photographs come from the group's own archive in East Suriname.

Carved wooden door frame with symmetrical tembe scrollwork above the doorway. — Tembe woodcarving above a doorway.

Painted wooden gable with geometric tembe motifs in blue, red and white. — Tembe motifs on a painted gable.

Wooden gable of a traditional house with close-fitting timber doors and carved edges. — Woodcarving on a traditional house.

A painted shield set into a thatched roof structure.

Thatched roof structure seen from below, with a painted round shield in tembe motifs at its centre. — A painted shield set into a thatched roof structure.

The drawn patterns elsewhere on this website are our own interpretations, not reproductions of specific historical works or of the work of individual artists.

From heritage to enterprise

How heritage carries into the work

For Afu-Mena, heritage is not a separate department. It shapes how the group looks at projects: what is already present here, who holds the knowledge, and how does the value stay in the region?

In the art and heritage branch this comes together most visibly, in Maroon textile art and cultural textile. In consultancy and Business Model TV it returns as a method: first take stock of what is there, then build.

Art and products About the group

The round village hall, where matters are discussed.

Large round village hall with a thatched roof on an open sand square in a riverside village. — The round village hall, where matters are discussed.

Wooden stilt house with a thatched roof, laundry on a line and red earth in the foreground. — Stilt house with a thatched roof.

Sandy village street with wooden houses, corrugated roofs and tall palm trees. — A village street in the interior.

Rhythm and weaving on the street during a cultural gathering.

On a city pavement a man plays a large drum while others weave palm leaf and set out baskets. — Rhythm and weaving on the street during a cultural gathering.