Marcel Pinas

An immensely talented combination of insider and outsider artist, Marcel Pinas of Surinam uses beautiful, poignant installations to tell the story of his own people, the Maroons, descendants of African slaves. This exceptional monograph combines reproductions and installation photographs with inspiring texts putting the work of this important artist into the context of his threatened native region, the genocidal civil war in Surinam and the African culture of the Caribbean. Besides creating drawings, paintings, sculptures and installations, he has founded an art school, museum and artist-in-residence program for Maroon children, documented in this book. Writes one observer, "It is difficult to overestimate the social significance of his work."