Foto: Dana LaMonda
Positions: Afterlives x Sarojini Lewis
performance and artist talkAs part of the commemorative year of past slavery, we offer extra attention to artists who reflect on the impact of colonial history in the present. The first contribution in this series is by Sarojini Lewis. It will be an evening with homemade soto, a performance and an artist talk.
Location: Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
When: Friday 24 November 2023, 18:00 - 21:30 hrs
Entry: free
Positions is the ongoing program of Stroom Den Haag showcasing contemporary art practices in The Hague. With Positions: Afterlives, Stroom introduces a new series of events that focuses on the manifold ways in which colonial histories are experienced in the present. Over the next six months, artists Sarojini Lewis, Travis Geertruida, Sabine Groenewegen and Ruben La Cruz and Karolien Helweg present special gatherings to share their artistic positions through performances, readings, screenings, talks and food sharings. The first contribution is by artist Sarojini Lewis. Using film, photography, archival materials and performance, her artistic practice explores the history of slavery, contract labor and migration through the lens of personal stories. In archives, this history is found in the form of property papers and in 'numbers' that express individuals. As a counterpoint, Lewis uses fiction after writer Saidiya Hartman's concept of critical fabulations: an invitation to critical speculation. In doing so, she gets closer to missing stories behind ancestors' names and uses rituals to depict the embodiment of their lives. Retrospectively, this creates new connections between history and the present, geopolitical relationships and imaginative narratives.
For visitors of the event Sarojini Lewis' father, Michael Lewis, will cook a family recipe of the famous soto, a traditional soup from Indonesia and Suriname.