Ode to Tonia Stieltjes | Are you satisfied with the servants?

With our intervention "Are you satisfied with being servants?" Tonia Stieltjes' voice gets a new platform. Her story remains inspiring and relevant. By highlighting her legacy, we take a step towards making visible the women who shaped the city of Amsterdam and its history. We bring Tonia Stieltjes into the open, beyond the walls of the museum, and share her story with all Amsterdammers. Tonia Stieltjes does not remain in the shadow of male socially engaged fighters, but becomes a lasting part of the collective memory. Overall, her role within Amsterdam society was of such importance that contemporaries described her as "the soul of everything".

Explanation:

As an activist, Stieltjes held several positions within the Amsterdam branch of the General Dutch Domestic Workers' Union from 1904 to 1912. Her talent for persuasive and motivating speaking and writing comes in handy here. She vividly and compellingly sketches the dismal life of Amsterdam's domestic workers. She also advocates for universal suffrage, organizes gatherings at home, writes critical articles, and leads demonstrations. She does all this with a limitation. Coming from an underprivileged working-class background in Kattenburg, Amsterdam, she becomes completely blind at the age of fourteen. Tonia loses one eye and partially regains her sight in the other eye. In 1904, Stieltjes, like her mother, becomes a domestic worker and is employed by the progressive-socialist Wibaut family at Weesperzijde 32. She finds herself in an influential environment surrounded by artists and activists. The Wibauts are undeniably important for her activism in Amsterdam. 

Intervention:

Our intervention begins with a protest march from the Weesperstraat metro station to the statue of Floor Wibaut at the top of the Wibautstraat (fig. 2). Inspired by Brian Elstak's painting, we create a re-enactment of a protest by the Algemene Nederlandse Dienstboden-bond, dressed as servants. As we walk towards the statue, we play an audio recording of protest slogans derived from newspaper articles from around 1907. We carry a banner that is depicted in Elstak's painting, based on the banner made for Tonia Stieltjes to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Amsterdam branch of the Algemene Nederlandse Dienstboden-bond (fig. 3). On this banner, we have written the name 'Tonia Stieltjes' in Braille. Below it is the phrase 'Zijt gij tevreden?', referring to the title of a speech Stieltjes gave in 1907. We have painted suns on the underside of the banner. These symbolize better times, something Tonia Stieltjes advocated for as an activist. Walking towards the statue and chanting slogans, we initiate our intervention in an activist manner.

The intervention continues for the statue in which the well-known social democratic politician, Floor Wibaut, is commemorated and honored. Many students from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences pass by here daily. We hope to draw their attention and thus pass on Stieltjes' story to new generations. This location is also appropriate because Tonia Stieltjes worked as a maid for the Wibaut family. We will provide Wibaut's statue with an apron and blindfold. In this way, we confront the socialist employer Wibaut with the living conditions in which Stieltjes had to work as a maid. We have also affixed Stieltjes' name to the statue. Since the statue cannot be physically covered, we will carry a poster during the intervention featuring a modified photo of the statue with the apron and blindfold (see fig. 4).

Standing by the statue, we distribute pamphlets to introduce onlookers and passersby to the face behind the name 'Tonia Stieltjes'. Various images of photos and paintings depicting Tonia are visible (fig. 5). Her name is also written in braille on these pamphlets, to raise awareness for accessibility for blind and visually impaired people. We have also affixed Tonia's name in braille on Wibaut's statue for the same reason.