The art and practice of experiencing/Becoming our space_04

The fourth meeting of Issue 4 by guest curator Glenn Helberg will take place on January 26.

In the first meeting of The art and practice of experiencing/Becoming our space, we contrasted the story of the Africans left behind and the enslaved Africans. By bringing out the mechanism of divide and conquer used by the coloniser, it became clear that this is a system and that the descendants have not sold each other. The second meeting focused on the stories of the Maroons and Surinamese Indigenous people. We heard about the meetings, helping each other and our own resilience. At the same time, each group waged its own frantic struggle against the coloniser. The pacifications that the coloniser had entered into with the various groups due to the persistent resistance, continued to be systems of oppression, perpetuating the division between the various Maroons and Surinamese Indigenous groups.

During the third meeting we heard and felt how various Surinamese communities who, among other things, were induced into contract labor by kidnapping and deception, know little about each other and so many generations later about themselves. With the realization of uprooting and the conversations about the prejudices about each other, that is where the steps towards healing lie.

The fourth meeting is scheduled for January 26. This evening we make the move to Curaçao and, with performers Junadry Leocaria, Gregory Shaggy Albertzoon, Laurindo Andrea and Adeiye Tjon, we will investigate how language has been used as an instrument to systemically perpetuate division, as well as how this affects access to social positions and colorism. We will discuss the enduring resilience that we can trace in our stories of heroic deeds, to feel this together and absorb it in our DNA.

In collaboration with: Alydia Wever, Fré Calmes, Raul Balai and Kimberley Smit.

RSVP via: info@shebangamsterdam.nl