Keti Koti (2024)

On June 30th, I curated a programme for Keti Koti at the International Theatre Amsterdam (ITA), focused on the liberation from the afterlives of slavery and colonialism. As a result of the history of slavery we often carry oppressive mental constructs with us, which perpatuates divide-and-conquer mechanisms in our community. This behaviour doesn’t only damages our mental state, but also keeps our communities divided.

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This program, therefore centered self-reflection and solidarity. In order to do so, it is necessary to reflect on what the spaces like ITA represent and what memories they hold. The architecture and history of ITA is a symbol of 19th century classism and colonial greed set in stone. With this programme we attempted to reclaim the theater as a space of healing and repair.

Major shout out to Kimberley Smit and her collective Need for Legacy whose hard work and expertise helped to build the theoretical foundations of this programme.

A big big thank you goes out to all the participating artists, the technicians, producers and public service personnel at International Theatre Amsterdam.