In her latest work for the exhibition Vredig, Vrij en Vriendelijk (Peaceful, Free and Friendly) Fineke van der Veen expresses her fascination with the Surinamese district of Coronie. The work includes several pieces in oil on linen as well as mixed media collages on paper and photo collages. Her interest for Coronie has resulted in much more than just the Works of art for this visual art exhibition however. It has actually been preceded by an extensive and interesting Coronie project which has culminated in a separate exhibition and the presentation of a book, all about Coronie. Fineke is co-author of this book which is called Dromers, doemdenkers en doorzetters; verhalen van mensen en gebouwen in Coronie (Dreamers, doom-mongers and go-getters, stories about the people and buildings of Coronie). Within the Coronie project the architectural background of the old buildings is recorded and documented while at the same time it is also intended to give the self image of the people of Coronie a much needed boost. Although fascinated and inspired by what she calls the paradoxes of Coronie, for the visual art exhibition Fineke chooses her own fascination for old things which - layer by layer – reveal their history. She was especially inspired by the analysis of her co-author Dick ter Steege in the book, where he shows how over the years, the original old buildings of Coronie were gradually transformed by multiple additions, renovations and restorations. She is preoccupied by aspects she describes as: “The irrevocable deterioration, the effects of time, weathering and parasites, eating and being eaten; Old wood, layer over layer of flaking paint, rotting wood, food for the jungle; Thrilling places, fantasy, that which is hidden; Desolation, stories that circulate through spaces; Deconstruction, demolition, building onto, additions, zinc roofing, a fence beyond which a house pops up; Back to the beginnings, to what was there first, determining location, measuring, documenting, that which will no longer be. Floor plan. Reconstruction. Assembly; creating what was never there, that which exists only in mind and soul, in paint and on paper. Here in my atelier, not there in that place, in Coronie”.