Artist Collective Totomboti

How do you experience languages? How does it make you feel? Mbei u seei gblen gblen, Sindo a mindi, Fitoou di tololo sondi & Lesipeki di matu, are audio and video fragments of conversations in Saramaccan, one of Suriname’s Maroon languages. Formed by a mix of various African and European languages, such as Kikongo, Ewe, Portuguese, Dutch and English. You may hear an occasional familiar word. The rhythm and intonation form the base of the presentation of Edje Doekoe, Toya Saakie and Marjet Zwaans, during Listening Sessions Manifestation #1 at Buro Stedelijk. With an English translation of the conversations written on paper with Vinije Haabo.

How can we form reciprocal relationships with nature? How can we practice critical shifts in attention? With presentation Mindi Matu, Totomboti and Marjet Zwaans presented an introduction to their collaboration at Unfair22. ‘Now we are talking about how we should interact with each other so that we can have mutual benefits from the knowledge that she has brought from her ancestors in the Netherlands and the knowledge that we have brought from our ancestors here in the interior.’

Artist collective Totomboti is known for its massive wood carvings inspired by obia and other natural phenomena. In doing so, they continue the tradition of their African ancestors who fled slavery in coastal areas to settle in the deep interior of Suriname. The collective has its roots in the Rastafarian movement of the early 1980s. The Rastas propagate an attitude to life that aims to preserve nature and the Saramakan cultural heritage. The collective in Pikin Slee consists of Toya Saakie, Edje Doekoe, Mando Doekoe, Wilko Doekoe, Abentini Doekoe. In 2009 they founded the Saamaka Museum.

Artist Marjet Zwaans organises her practice from the ideas of Ecological Economics, to arrange them into spatial installations, choir performances, and gatherings. Ecological Economics prioritises sustainable scale and redistribution of resources, over productivity and efficiency. Complementing, contributing, and thus mutually reinforcing is at the heart of tuning into collective practices. Moving in ways that each collaborator can contribute from their own experience without merging – a practice of correspondence.