Keti Koti
Every year on July 1, the abolition of slavery is celebrated. Last year, in 2023, it was 150 years since the end of slavery in Suriname and the Caribbean in 1873. Keti Koti, meaning 'broken chains', reminds us of the importance of treating each other in an equal manner. ITA also wants to show how important this day is with a programme. On Sunday 30 June, we will present a curated programme during the commemoration day for the slavery past.
Genre Perspective
Run time 125 minutes
Language Dutch
Keti Koti
On 30 June, we mark not only the commemoration of the abolition of slavery but also the Independence Day of Somalia and Congo. This programme specifically focuses on a quest for liberation from the knock-on effects of the colonial past and afterlives of slavery. During that time, divide-and-conquer mechanisms were structurally applied to legitimise exploitation and dismantle opposition, protest and revolt. Thus, power remained in the hands of a small group of people.
Although slavery has been abolished, our thinking, our bodies, and thus our daily lives are still influenced by colonial traces, memories and behaviours. These oppressive thinking constructs hamper the coexistence of our country's diverse communities, which is why this programme focuses on empathy, solidarity and healing.
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The programme includes the ritual The art and practice of experiencing/Becoming our space by Glenn Helberg and SHEBANG, a monologue by Anton de Bies, Performing the Archive: Flying Out by Luku Xam and The Need for Legacy and music by Ondrofeni. Afterwards, there will be an after-talk with Glenn Helberg and drinks with a DJ in the Rotonde.
Performing the archive: Flying Out
Luku Xam is an interdisciplinary Afro-Futurist storytelling collective consisting of Jomecia Oosterwolde, Joanne Purperhart and Myra Fanta Bodian. They draw inspiration from different Afro and Afrodiaspora cultures, life visions and spirituality. In collaboration with The Need for Legacy, they create a performance in which image, story and movement come together based on their research in Dutch theatre archives.
In de voetsporen van een held
I will never forget the smell. I can never forget the smell. Fire penetrating everything, scorching everything in its way with eager fingers. Until nothing remains. Only: the stories. And the words. It started with words. Words that were first withheld from us, because enslaved people were not allowed to read. Because they also knew: the power of words is great.
Actor and theatre maker Anton de Bies crawls into the role of Tula, who led the uprising of the enslaved on Curaçao. This Tula, who fought for freedom and human rights, has a conversation with himself (Anton) in the here and now. He takes us back to the past and makes us reflect on the impact of slavery in the present.
Ondrofeni
Kaskawi (Kaseko-Kawina) music from Suriname is Surinamese modern swinging percussion music where you definitely cannot stand still. Ondrofeni translates freely as 'experience'. They have already played at Oerol, the Uitmarkt, Kwaku Festival, Welcome to the village, countless parties, the North Sea Jazz Festival and during the opening of Festival Lieve Stad, 2024 in the Rotonde.
The art and practice of experiencing/Becoming our space
Makers and artists, led by guest curator Glenn Helberg, explore how, since the discovery of the New World and transatlantic slavery, divisions between indigenous and diasporic communities have been systemically deployed and worked through. Together, they explore how sharing their own stories about mechanisms of oppression can break them. With breaking through these truths felt in body and mind, we can experience the space to overcome divide and rule mechanisms. Although we have freedom, we do not experience space.
Moving between Suriname and Curaçao, we explore with performers Junadry Leocaria, Gregory Shaggy Albertzoon, Laurindo Andrea and Adeiye Tjon how language has been used as a tool to systemically perpetuate divisions, as well as how this permeates access to social positions and colourism. We will engage in a conversation about the ever-persistent resilience we can trace in our stories of heroism, to collectively feel and take it to our DNA.
