a ritual of decolonization
“Even when I am in pain I’m gonna shine bitches!”
Ancestors who endured indentured labor, who had suffered, were punished, abused, and murdered, but also revolted against oppression and de-humanization. A recent history which has been and is being erased and silenced. This ritual is an embodiment of those who lived indentured labor for those souls we have lost on the seas.
Aequilibrium is a decolonizing dance ritual in which Fazle is ritualized with salt and glitter. Each time is performed with different sound and a different guide.
AEQUILIBRIUM 3.0
Decolonization, and the resistance against British colonization of India was also marked by ‘The Salt March’ in 1930 in response to a tax raise of salt by the British colonizers. In this decolonizing ritual we connect histories of resistance in India and indentured labor Surinam. For this ritual Fazle was guided by Taskien Khudadabux, sharing colonial histories from lineages that have encountered many times in history.
Free Spirits – portrait of 8 minutes
Performers: Fazle Shairmahomed and Taskien Khudabux
Sound: Ji Youn Kang
AEQUILIBRIUM 2.0
A history which both bounds and divides people, those enslaved and those indentured. In 1863 slaves from the African diaspora in Surinam were ‘promised’ freedom, but were held under state supervision “Staatstoezicht” for 10 years. Exactly 10 years later, in 1873, the first boat, Lalla Rookh, from Hindustan a.k.a. British-India, arrived in Surinam. De-humanization continued… As we are once again coming to terms with colonial histories, we are reminded of how present the poison of colonialism still is. We are still in need of decolonizing our minds and our bodies.
Performers: Fazle Shairmahomed & Olave Nduwanje
With special contributions for this exhibition
Spoken word: Jimmy Rage a.k.a. Femi Dawkins
Music: Abraxas
Art on stage: Remy Jungermans
Exhibition: Quaqu_kwaku 2017 curated by Charl Landvreugd
Read more about Quaqu
AEQUILIBRIUM 1.0
This work has been developed as a research for the exhibition ‘Capitalocean’ at W139, organized by artist Sara Pape Garcia. Initiated from an interest in the crystallization of sea water into salt, predicting and waiting for the arrival of sea sparkle at the seashore of Den Haag. Investigating the crystallization of sea salt on my body and bodies of others has brought me to development of an improvisation score, titled ‘Synaesthesia of Space’, as an invitation to navigate through the exhibition at W139. This research also resulted in a live video installation in collaboration with Jan Huijben, titled ‘Hydrophiliae’, in which the crystallization of sea water on my dark skin reflects a meditative state in which the contrast between salt and skin are inteferred by a breathing humid entity. The perfection of water drops is habitually disturbed and transformed into a new shape.
Read more about Capitalocean at W139
Maker and performer: Fazle Shairmahomed
Sound: Ji Youn Kang
Costume: Ludmila Rodrigues
Art on stage: Sara Pape Garcia