Wouter Welling, The Afrika Museum (Berg en Dal) and Caribbean art: Collecting and presenting contemporary art from the Dutch Antilles, Haiti, Cuba and beyond Since the last decade of the twentieth century the Afrika Museum has focused its exhibitions on contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora. As a curator Welling is especially interested in artists with a global orientation using local sources rooted in African spiritual traditions. This transcultural art shows the mental flexibility and spiritual strength of people whose ancestors were once transported from the mother continent, Africa. Moreover it is a kind of art that Welling considers to be an expression of our era, where the individual finds points of reference all over the world, although she or he is at the same time connected to a specific cultural background. Exhibitions should, in Welling's opinion, include artists from all over the world. Themes with a universal meaning will bring together works that at a glance are completely different but on a closer look reveal a crossroads of archetypes. Therefore the idea of a separate art community is completely out of date – let alone a separate Caribbean art community which in itself is the very essence of an amalgam or mixture of cultural influences. Welling suggests forgetting any label at all – whether from a geographical, race or gender perspective – and focus instead on the content of the work. Doing so, the encounter with artists who draw inspiration from santeria, obeah, vodou and other traditions derived from African vodun show a resemblance with artists like Beuys, Bourgeois and many others. This is an approach that until quite recently was completely ignored by the major art museums in the West. As a curator Welling hopes to contribute to broadening that horizon and for that purpose the Caribbean is an excellent starting point. Welling will briefly outline past exhibitions produced by the Afrika Museum, Berg en Dal: Ad Fontes! An intercultural quest for hidden sources (2001), Kijken zonder Grenzen (2006), Roots and More: The Journey of the Spirits (2009), and Dangerous and Divine: The Secret of the Serpent (2012). Some images, sounds or other media used in the following presentation are subject to copyright restrictions that prevent them being shown. In order to provide a complete record of the conference, these items have been blurred or silenced. Should we obtain permission to use these images, sounds and other media in the future the films will be updated.