Positions: Afterlives x Travis Geertruida

Symposium

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Location: Stroom, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
When: Wednesday 24 January 2024, 19:00 - 21:00 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. We organize special gatherings in which artists such as Sarojini Lewis, Travis Geertruida, Sabine Groenewegen and Ruben La Cruz and Karolien Helweg share their artistic positions through performances, readings, screenings, talks and food sharings. 

For the second event in our series of Positions: Afterlives we welcome The Hague based artist Travis Geertruida. Geertruida is inspired by his upbringing in Curaçao, its history and culture. For Positions: Afterlives, he developed an evening about the social and cultural dynamics of the Dutchlanguage, to claim ownership and conjure a sense of belonging.

Language, accents and pronunciation are powerful markers of identity and belonging. While (re)claiming certain words and dialects, despite their common codings can be a way to assertautonomy for some, the dominance and the assumed neutrality of "Standard Civilised Dutch" (Algemeen Beschaafd Nederlands) persists to this day, acutely assuming a connectionbetween one's speech and native region, education, ethnicity and class. 

The evening symposium is titled Mondongo, meaning intestines and bellies of cattle and pigs. Geertruida explains: "It is the inners of a being. Maybe not its soul but its guts and fillings. That which fuels it and lives deep within it. This symposium is designed to reach down deep, identifying and exposing that which lies with in, bring it up into the light, and give it a new life. It is what I need to finally come topeace with the language the kingdom forced upon me.This performance event is a mountain climb. It is a journey of transformation. Once onto of the mountain we gain new perspective. Then question then is, will we carry this new insight with us on the way back down the mountain, or will we leave what we have found behind?"