Compa Nansi

The one heritage the slave trade brought to the new world are the stories of Compa Nansi. These fables about spider Anansi originate from Ghana and West-Africa, where they are told unto this day. The slaves couldnt bring anything material during the crossing of the Atlantic'except their languages, knowledge and stories. This way Anansi storeies are now also being told through out the Caribbean.

Me too grew up with the adventures of cunning Anansi, therefore I am very happy that on Saturday the 2nd of june an Anansi storytelling festival is taking place at Imagine IC, organised by Anansi Masters. You can come and tell your own Anansi story or just lay back and listen to some good story tellers.

Next to this story telling festival there is also an exhibition, a theater piece and many movies are to be seen on the website. Amongst others from Ghanean story tellers that tell their version, sometimes even without Anansi himself at all.

Story catcher

For a year now, I am working on this wonderful oral history project Verhalenvanger (story catcher). Together with a symbolic table I have visited three elderly homes for people from the former Dutch East Indies and will continue with a tour along Surinamese and Antillean houses. After showing the inhabitants of the home old film footage, I catch their story together with pictures or documents. This collection of stories aims to tell the personal stories behind the grand political history and to show the communality within such a group of immigrants. In this project we focus on 'inburgering' and collect the stories of newcomers in Holland.
Read and enjoy!

photo: picture from a private collection from the website, showing son of the house posing next to the newly bought television set. Black-and-white off course.