The sound of connection

Artist book in progress

The ongoing global consequences of centuries of destructive effects of exploitation, extraction, and depletion on communities, plants, and animals are now also palpable in the West, manifested in phenomena like migration flows and climatic disasters. In my artistic quest, I aim to comprehend and make visible the socio-ecological catastrophe stemming from our colonial past in its entirety and interconnectedness. In this regard, as part of the Surinamese diaspora, I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors from Africa, India, and Indigenous communities, the original inhabitants of Suriname.

“Who are we? /Tell me lies” originates in my questions about our community. How do we belong. Who does and who doesn’t belong. Who is entitled to be save? Who provides safety and to whom? When are you on the good side? Why is there a good or bad side anyways? What is justice and to whom and when, based on what? Who to trust upon and why? Tell me lies. When are “we” a real we? While there is them and us when it comes down to it, and you know who’s on the benefitting side. So “Who are “we”? Tell me lies” not only questions humanity; it asks us to switch positions and take responsibility for all life on our earth. It denounces the facade of justice and exposes blind spots through which inhumane, destructive actions are communicated as narratives of progress. We cannot discuss solutions to climate change if we fail to recognize the causal connection with the systematic suppression, dehumanization, and marginalization of regions, countries, peoples, and their traditions of thought, wisdom, and knowledge. It is essential that we do not see these two separately and that we have to tackle them simultaneously. And necessary that we end fragmented thinking, whereby we inadequately attempt to solve problems in small pieces detached from the whole.

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