Keti Koti 2025
On 1 July, as in previous years, ITA commemorates the abolition of slavery with a special Keti Koti programme. This year's theme is shared heritage, dialogue and cultural expression. With theatre, music, conversations and rituals, together we will create a meaningful space for reflection, connection and shared remembrance.
Keti Koti at ITA is more than a moment of celebration. It is a call to awareness, to acknowledge painful histories and to build a just future for all.
Run time 120 minutes
Genre Perspective
Language Dutch
The programme includes Heri Heri which can be picked up from 4pm in our brasserie.
Lourens and Madagascar
Central inspiration this year are the stories of Lourens and Madagascar, two teenage boys who were the first to be enslaved by the Dutch in 1595. During the Republic's very first trade voyage, they were kidnapped on the island now called Madagascar. Their fate marks the beginning of the Dutch involvement in slavery..
Through music, song and theatre, artists give a new voice to old stories. They invite deeper, more inclusive reflection on our colonial past and the connected histories of Asia, South America and the Caribbean.
The stories of Lourens and Madagascar remind us that the slavery past did not begin with plantations in the West, but with strategic choices and dehumanising acts in the East. They confront us with the fact that the foundations of wealth, power and national pride are partly built on injustice.
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Keti Koti at ITA offers space for these stories - for mourning, recognition and recovery. We invite you to pause together, listen and contribute to a shared future in which history is not forgotten, but rather passed on.
It is set to be a special programme. Columnist, documentary maker and writer Clarice Gargard will write a theatre text that will be read by ensemble members Maria Kraakman, ‘Ntianu Stuger and Gijs Scholten van Aschat. There are also contributions from South African soprano Ashley Stapelfeldt, top Ghanaian trumpeter Peter Somuah, psychiatrist and curator Glenn Helberg and a performance by choreographer Ciro Goudsmit.
