SPAfrica reading sessions: The Elephant in the Room
On 17 and 18 November, Studio Julian Hetzel and Frascati/Het Verbond invite you to a two-part reading session to delve deeper into some of the issues addressed by the new performance SPAfrica. The reading group takes place on 17 and 18 November, prior to the SPAfrica shows at Frascati.
In SPAfrica, Julian Hetzel & Ntando Cele join forces to explore the limits of empathy. What if empathy doesn’t change power structures but reinforces existing privileges? SPAfrica reveals the problematic mechanisms and hidden racism of its working. Is trauma the new gold of the arts?
Reading group sessions & hosts:
Session #1
17-11-2023, 16:00–18:30
The Elephant in the Room: On extractivism
Hosted by Teresa Borasino
Teresa Borasino is a Peruvian artist based in Amsterdam. Her work balances upon the fertile edges between art and activism, the space between poetics and politics, and the radical engagement with social movements. She co-founded Fossil Free Culture in 2016, a collective of artists, activists, and scholars working at the intersection of art and climate justice. Fossil Free Culture NL confronts oil and gas sponsorship of public cultural institutions in the Netherlands. Recently the collective started the Disobedient Art School, a pedagogical framework for non-hierarchical collective learning through art practices that intervene in systems of oppression. Since 2021, Borasino has been conducting artistic research into the Andean cosmovision and its ecologies of ancestral knowledge and practice.
Session #2
18-11-2023, 16:00–18:30
Hosted by Maarten van Hinte
Maarten van Hinte is a Dutch-Surinamese actor, director, (theatre) writer and dramaturg. This year, he won the Toneelschrijfprijs 2023 with Queen of Disco. In the beginning of the 80’s, he founded the goup NuClarity with guitarist Lucien Kembel, which was the first live hiphop band in the Netherlands. Concurrently, he joined theatre group DNA (De Nieuw Amsterdam), a multicultural theatre ensemble that was founded by Rufus Collins and Henk Tjon. Here, he started as an actor, only to develop himself as a translator and director. In 1992, he founded the theatre group Made in da Shade together with Majorie Boston and Lucien Kembel, which was considered was ‘urban theatre’ and focused on performances for and by new voices. In 2007, Made in da Shade fused with Cosmic Theatre to MC, which combined urban theatre, music and club culture. In this formation, Van Hinte started as writer, director and coach of a new generation of young artists, who dare to think differently and mirror the multivoiced character of the city. Now, MC has outgrown into the international, multidisciplinary urban production centre. RIGHTABOUTNOW INC.
PRACTICAL
17 & 18 November 2023
16:00 – 18:30
Frascati (Het Verbond)
To participate, please send an email to michelle@julian-hetzel.com
- The reading sessions are open to anyone interested in the topics.
- Max. 12 participants
- For each session we focus on a selection of texts.
- The reading sessions are in English.
- The conversation will be guided by a host.
- We encourage participants to join both sessions.
- Participation in the reading group sessions is free of charge. First apply, first join.
