Wednesday 19 November
At Luanda airport, Angola, we are welcomed in the morning by visual artist Iris Buchholz and her husband Claudio Chocolate, director of film company 9Films. After several years of conversations via Zoom to prepare for Art Project Armazoen in Angola, this is finally our very first face-to-face meeting!
After dropping our things at our Airbnb, we head straight to the location where Art Project Armazoen is presented: Museu Nacional da Escravatura de Angola, the National Slavery Museum in Angola. From where we're staying, it's a car ride of just over an hour, one we will make many more times.
The first impression is overwhelming: the wonderful but very hot temperature (daily well above 30 degrees Celsius!), the beautiful colours, the impressive setting right by the Atlantic Ocean, the nature with an endless number of centuries-old baobab trees, the sheer number of people, the chaos, hustle and the noise of voices and traffic in the city, which somehow also reminds me of New York, and the undeniable confrontation with poverty, which I've sometimes seen on TV, but now for the first time to this extent 'in real life'... it is overwhelming.
When we arrive at the slavery museum, seeing the sea container of Art Project Armazoen specifically at this location makes a very deep and emotional impression. This Dutch story, from the country where I was born, which stretched so far and whose consequences still have such an undeniable impact at the various locations to this very day... I cannot properly put into words what I feel, but the fact is that this shared history is literally in my DNA. In a way I cannot otherwise explain, I can physically sense it.
For Art Project Armazoen, contextual programming partner and visual artist Iris Buchholz created her work "Memorial de Nomes, The Vanishing Half". This work is an art installation that functions as a mobile monument to the Angolan victims of the transatlantic slave trade. Before enslaved people boarded the ships, they were baptised and stripped of their names. The artwork, made of 6,000 small aluminium tags, covers the left side of the sea container of Art Project Armazoen. In remembrance, visitors to the project are invited to engrave one lost ancestral name onto one of the aluminium tags, which are then attached to the sea container of Art Project Armazoen.
The sea container stands on the grounds at the foot of the slavery museum building. The team of our contextual programming partner is putting the finishing touches on preparing the container.
After all the effort, the moment has finally arrived: Art Project Armazoen can begin at its first international location, Angola!
Thursday 20 November
Together with the team of our contextual programming partner, Afra and I are invited the following day to the Dutch embassy in Luanda, Angola. Here, an official presentation of Art Project Armazoen takes place for various guests. A beautiful speech is given by ambassador Henny de Vries, followed by presentations from partners Iris Buchholz and Claudio Chocolate and a moving performance by spoken word artist Jaliya The Bird.
Friday 21 November
It is a special day for all of us: the official opening of Art Project Armazoen in Angola! This is what we have worked towards for years. Ambassador to Angola Henny de Vries is present at the slavery museum from early in the morning to officially open Art Project Armazoen and the contextual programming, as put together by our partners.
It is the beginning of a wonderful day. Various guests and schools have accepted the invitation to attend this special day. Pupils and students of widely varying ages have gathered in large groups on the grounds around the sea container of Art Project Armazoen, which houses the dance film. Given the content of the film, it is unfortunately only suitable from a certain age, so the very youngest do not take part in this element.
There is once again a performance by spoken word artist Jaliya The Bird, followed by an entertaining dance theatre performance, carried out by a small group of young adult performers.
The contextual programming, which includes the collaboratively assembled artwork "Memorial de Nomes, The Vanishing Half" by Iris Buchholz, is presented and received with great interest and enthusiasm.
Saturday 22 November
From this day on, Art Project Armazoen is officially open to all visitors of the Museu Nacional da Escravatura de Angola.
This is also the moment when the flag that has physically taken over the route of our travelling sea container is laid out on the grounds of the slavery museum to be signed by descendants of this shared history.
I had two copies of the flag made, one extra in case something happens to the flag along the way.
At first, I notice I am quite hesitant and wonder whether visitors will actually be willing to share their name in this way, thereby connecting themselves to this project and this dark side of our shared history. The fact is that the way the various elements of Art Project Armazoen are experienced is strongly influenced by cultural, ethnic, historical and personal background and experience. Through which lens are you looking?
But it turns out there is a great and genuine interest in forging a personal connection with the project in this way — by writing one's own name on the flag that will soon travel on to its second international location, Curaçao — and thereby symbolically connecting with one another.
Thanks to our location right next to the slavery museum and our partner's invitations to schools, Art Project Armazoen receives many visitors in the days that follow.
Friday 28 November
I reached out to the renowned modern dance company Companhia de Dança Contemporânea de Angola, which has existed for more than 30 years. Work by this company has also been shown in the Netherlands during the Afrovibes Festival.
On this day, I leave early in the morning to attend a class (daily training) and rehearsals of this wonderful company. As expected, it is very impressive. It begins with a classical/academic warm-up, followed by rehearsals of two different choreographies. It is inspiring to see the diversity and versatile movement vocabulary of this group of dancers.
Afterwards, I have the opportunity to have an extensive conversation with the group, in which backgrounds and experiences as dance professionals are exchanged.
Of course, I also brought my flags along, and fortunately everyone responds enthusiastically to my request to please sign them! And after this special morning and afternoon, I am also given a beautiful anniversary book, published in 2022 to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary.
At the end of the afternoon, founder and artistic director Ana Clara Guerra Marques drops me home by taxi. During the ride, she tells me more about the history of the company and the challenges they have faced for decades, such as the lack of real recognition and support for their work within the country itself, and the challenge of still not having a permanent venue after all this time. Even so, this is also a particularly inspiring part of getting to know this company for me, as it teaches me a great deal about holding on to your drive and having (and putting to use!) an enormous commitment and perseverance.
November/December
Slowly but surely, it is time to prepare for the journey back home.
We also manage to visit a few other places. The nature, of which we've already caught a glimpse, is breathtakingly beautiful.
Back at the sea container, the last meetings and conversations with visitors take place about this part of our shared history of slavery, the flags are signed one last time at this location, and plenty more photos and videos are taken.
But then, unfortunately, the time has truly come to say goodbye to this first, unforgettable part of this whole remarkable international journey.