As an evening programme on 1 July 2021, the curatorial team tried to elaborate on Keti Koti in a discursive way. The international audience of sonsbeek20>24, but also a large part of the Netherlands, is still unfamiliar with this commemoration and what it stands for. Through a discursive programme with contributions from academics, activists and artists, a mixed audience from both the international and national community were introduced to the histories and legacies of colonialism and racial capitalism and how these contributed to the formation of the nation-state. The event looked at the Dutch role in the Atlantic slave trade as well as current policies on borders, economy, and relations to former colonies. Musically, these ideas were explored by paying attention to the inherently diasporic nature of music, audible in OTION’s contribution of Afro-Surinamese music, which looks at both the past and the future. Lynnee Denise, in a sonic lecture, approached music as cartography and carrier of knowledge.
Participants: OTION (musician), Aude Christel Mgba and Amal Alhaag (curators sonsbeek20>24), Lynnée Denise (DJ, artist), Jessica de Abreu (academic, activist, initiator The Black Archives), Kwame Nimako (academic), and Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken (academic).