Unbound (livestream)
International Spoken Word Festival
UNBOUND
Spoken Word-festival door Babs Gons, De Nieuwe Liefde en SLAA
‘Wil je weten wat er in de wereld speelt? Ga dan eens naar een spoken word-avond.’
Babs Gons – Spoken word-artiest en initiator van UNBOUND.
Klimaatverandering, sociale onrust, institutioneel racisme en een pandemie – deze mondiale problemen raken ons allemaal. Spoken word is een kunstvorm die direct laat zien wat er in de samenleving speelt: een vorm vol zelfexpressie en verbinding, een manier om grenzen uit te wissen, kennis te delen en gesprekken te beginnen.
Spoken word is daarom geen luxe. Spoken word is een noodzaak, zeker wanneer de vrijheid van meningsuiting onder druk staat en we niet meer naar elkaar willen luisteren. Het is een middel om weerstand te bieden, een vehikel voor emancipatie en vrijheid. Ongebonden. Unbound.
Voor de eerste editie van spoken word-festival Unbound verwelkomen we verschillende artiesten uit Zuid-Afrika, Brazilië, België en Nederland.
Het festival bestaat uit drie delen van 90 minuten. Elk programmaonderdeel is verbonden aan een land of regio, een specifiek thema én is zorgvuldig samengesteld door onze internationale gasten. Welke roeping voelen ze als vertellers? Welke keuzes maken ze bij het vertellen van verhalen, en waarom?
Unbound is een festival vol optredens, artist talks en discussies. De voertaal is Engels.
Dit is een online event. Kijk voor de volledige line-up en een link naar de livestream op de site van UNBOUND.
South Africa _ sickness (in a time of stillness)
Curator | Vangile Gantsho
Vangile Gantsho is dichter, heler en mede-oprichter van Impepho Press. Als trotse zwarte vrouw reisde ze de wereld over om deel te nemen aan diverse literaire evenementen. Gantsho publiceerde twee poëziebundels: Undressing in front of a window (2015) en Red cotton (2018). In laatstgenoemde bundel onderzoekt ze wat het betekent om zwart, queer én vrouw te zijn in het Zuid-Afrika van nu. Ze belandde ermee op de longlist van het National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Award 2020.
Curator | Frankie Murrey
Frankie Murrey was jaren actief in de boekenbranche voor ze coördinator werd van het Open Book Festival: een jaarlijks, vijfdaags evenement in het hart van Kaapstad, Zuid-Afrika. Daarnaast werkte ze ook voor Cocreate Poetica, Comics Fest en Youth Fest. In 2015 werd haar werk beloond met de Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
The Netherlands & Belgium _ language in movement
Curator | Emma Lesuis
Emma Lesuis vertelt verhalen middels tekst, beeld en het podium. Ze combineert die verschillende disciplines graag in haar documentary performances. Haar werk was te zien op Canvas, NPO, Oerol, Brainwash en diverse andere festivals. Naast het maken van films schrijft en presenteert ze. Momenteel doet ze research voor een nieuwe documentaire in samenwerking met Docmakers / HUMAN. Hiervoor won ze de Karen de Bok Talent Award op IDFA 2019.
Brazil _ political poetic perspectives
Curator | Roberta Estrela D’Alva
Roberta Estrela D’Alva is dichter en poetry slam-pionier, actrice, researcher, producer en de drijvende kracht achter A Festa Literaria das Periferias (FLUP). Ze studeerde Performing Arts and Communication & Semiotics, is oprichter van Nucleus Bartolomeu de Testimonials, het eerste hiphoptheater-gezelschap van Brazilië, en publiceerde het boek Teatro Hip-Hop, a Performance Poética do Ator-MC. In 2012 won ze de legendarische Green Mill Jazz Club slam-contest in Chicago, de geboorteplaats van de slam.
ENGLISH
UNBOUND gives the stage to performers, writers and experts of all walks of life. To exchange ideas & stories – and change the world.
We are more connected than ever, but sometimes it’s hard to hear each other. Climate change, social unrest, institutional racism and a pandemic – global issues affect us all. Spoken word makes you listen to what’s going on. It’s an art form designed to directly address what’s happening in society. A tool to express yourself and touch others. A way to erase borders, share knowledge and start conversations.
Spoken word is not a luxury. Spoken word is a necessity – that much becomes clear when freedom of speech is under pressure. Spoken word as a means to resist, to emancipate, to free. Unbound.
‘If you want to know what’s going on in the world, listen to spoken word.‘
Babs Gons – Dutch spoken word pioneer & UNBOUND initiator
This preview edition of UNBOUND welcomes artists from everywhere between South-Africa, Brazil and Belgium & The Netherlands. The festival consists of 3 parts of 90 minutes. Each part is connected to a country or region, a specific theme and designed by our international curators. Expect performances, artist talks and roundtable discussions.
Which calling do they feel as narrators and interpreters of today’s world? What choices do they make in their storytelling, and why? What is the state of literature itself? And how does our Dutch literary landscape relate to that of other regions?
This is an online event. For full line-up and a link to the livestream, click here.
South Africa _ sickness (in a time of stillness)
Curator | Vangile Gantsho
Vangile Gantsho is a poet, healer and co-founder of Impepho Press. Unapologetically black woman, she has travelled the continent and the globe participating in literary events and festivals. Gantsho is the author of two poetry collections: Undressing in front of the window (2015) and red cotton (2018). She holds an MA from the University Currently Known as Rhodes (2016) and was named one of Mail & Guardian’s Top Young 200 South Africans of 2018. Her latest collection, red cotton, an exploration of what it means to be black, queer, and woman in modern-day South Africa, was named City Press Top Poetry Read of 2018, and long-listed for the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences 2020 Award.
Curator | Frankie Murrey
Frankie Murrey worked in the book business for years before becoming the festival coordinator of Open Book Festival, a five-day festival that takes place every year in early September in the heart of Cape Town, South Africa. In addition to putting together the festival’s core program, she worked closely with others for Cocreate Poetica, Comics Fest and the Youth Fest. She facilitated the Mentoring Program and the Open Book School Library Project. In 2015, her work was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She resigned from Open Book Festival at the end of 2019 and has since been working as curator/project manager on various events.
The Netherlands & Belgium _ language in movement
Curator | Emma Lesuis
Emma Lesuis tells stories through text, images or the stage. She prefers to combine the different disciplines in documentary performances. Her work has been shown on Canvas, NPO, Oerol, De Correspondent, Brainwash and various festivals. Besides film, she writes and presents. She is currently researching a new documentary in collaboration with Docmakers / HUMAN. For this she won the Karen de Bok Talent Award at IDFA 2019. She toured the theaters with her performance Aardappelbloed, in collaboration with Via Rudolphi.
Brazil _ political poetic perspectives
Curator | Roberta Estrela D’Alva
Roberta Estrela D’Alva is a poet and slammer, actress, researcher, cultural producer and the driving force behind A Festa Literaria das Periferias (FLUP). She studied Performing Arts and Communication & Semiotics, is founder of Nucleus Bartolomeu de Testimonials, Brazil’s first hip-hop theater company and published the book Teatro Hip-Hop, a Performance Poética do Ator-MC. She has been a Brazilian pioneer in poetry slam since she founded the Zona Autônoma da Palavra, after taking third place at the 8th Slam World Cup in Paris in 2011. In 2012, she won the legendary contested Green Mill Jazz Club slam- contest in Chicago, the birthplace of slam. She won the Shell Award for Best Actress in 2012 for her performance in the show Orfeu Mestiço, Uma Hip-Hópera Brasileira.