14 June 2026, 11:00 - 17:30
Anti-Fascist Congress
an inspired embodiment of the 1933 anti-fascist congress in Utrecht
assembly & exhibition
an initiative of Basecamp Builder Nancy Jouwe
in close cooperation with the Basecamp Core Building Domain
The fact that this took place in Utrecht is very little known yet significant, transnationally because of Hitler coming to power and locally because of the founding of Utrecht-based NSB, the National Socialist Movement, a fascist group that had just been founded and became quite active in 1933 and would become a Nazi affiliated political party.
On June 24-25, 1933, hundreds of people gathered to attend an anti-fascism congress in the city centre of Utrecht, at Oudegracht 245. Delegations of workers unions all around the Netherlands joined and messages of solidarity from soldiers, workers unionists and communists in the Netherlands, Germany and France were sent. The congress was discussed in the media and scrutinized by Dutch government, while local police even briefly raided the congress.
Among the many speakers were two prominent one’s at the congress emphasizing the link between fascism and colonialism: Surinamese anti-colonial activist Anton de Kom (1898-1945) and Indonesian poet, lecturer and activist Roestam Effendi (1903-1979). One was born in Suriname, the other in present-day Indonesia, and both lived for a considerable time in the Netherlands. Anton de Kom during his speech referred to his coming book We slaves of Surinam – which would be published the next year in Dutch Wij Slaven van Suriname - as an anti-fascist book. Effendi was to become the youngest, but above all the first, non-European member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, for the Communist Party of the Netherlands.
Join us alongside scholars, artists and activists to reflect on the importance of this congress, both historically and for present days.
PROGRAM
Introduction to the day
11:00-12:00
City Walk: Spaces of Resistance
guided by Nancy Jouwe
PASTS & FUTURE
13:00-13:45
Guided tour of the exhibition 1933 revisited
with Sophie Mak-Schram and Ndèye-Anne Pouye
PRESENT & PAST
14:00-15:30
Speeches and main addresses from invited guests
with contributions from Guno Jones, Jessica van Geel, Jasper Albinus and others to be announced
FUTURE & PRESENT
16:00-17:30
Assembly with spontaneous inputs, prepared interventions and and short messages of solidarity
with contributions from Simone Zeefuik, Soula Notos, Grace Leksana, Pravini Baboeram, School of Marxism, JMS Legacy Foundation, Jonas Staal and others to be announced
About the exhibition
1933 revisited
Why is the 1933 conference still relevant today?
What do we need to learn from this past for our common future?
This exhibition seeks to embody the undeniable entanglements between (anti)fascism and (anti)colonialism, an often-overlooked narrative. The history of the 1933 Congress, based in Utrecht, is a useful vocaliser of it. Building on two essential activist trajectories, Surinamese author Anton de Kom and Indonesian poet Roestam Effendi, it suggests a reinvented framework regarding the subaltern history of fascism, focusing on the superposition between workers’ movement and the agency of colonized people. Rather than following a linear narrative, we want to bridge and intertwine key contextual elements with forward-looking visions, while grounding these ideas in our present.
TICKET INFO
Sliding Scale Ticket Prices
€12 - €22 - €30
Reserve your spot by filling the form in this link
Please also note that lunch is included
We use a sliding scale, but if you want to participate and cannot afford the lowest ticket price, please get in toucht with us by sending an email to: joining@bakonline.org
This Anti-Fascist Congress is an initiative of Basecamp Builder Nancy Jouwe, in close cooperation with the Basecamp Domain of Core Building (Jeanne van Heeswijk, Sophie Mak-Schram and Ndèye-Anne Pouye), as part of the program Black Presence in Utrecht. Design was done by Insan Larasati.
[id: three figures wearing different shades of purple stand next to each other. One wears a skirt and reads a paper called antifascistisch front, the other one wears an overall with their fist raised and their other hand on the shoulder of a hijabi wearing person that kicks a swastika to pieces. The event title is white on a red banners and other text appears black on a white background)
