Dance of Freedom 2024
In 2024, Nosagenda [‘our agenda’] will once again organise a Dance of Freedom. The Rotterdam platform for Cabo Verdean culture will celebrate the archipelago’s 49th Independence Day with stories, music and typical dishes from Cabo Verde. Experience this unique and warm atmosphere on 5 July at the Nieuwe Instituut. Be inspired by a panel discussion on the relationship between Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau, visit a special market and see a pop-up exhibition on national hero Amílcar Cabral!
5 July 2024 14:00 - 19:00
Panel discussion
Led by spoken word artist Kenny Gomes, several Rotterdammers with roots in Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau, such as Jorge Lizardo, João Ortet, Tania Cristina, Mana Kizzy and Xavier Monteiro, will discuss the ties between the two countries. To what extent is there still a relationship between these countries that fought together for independence? How has this relationship evolved since both countries broke away from their common coloniser, Portugal, in the 1970s? And how have political and economic developments in Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau influenced each other since then?
The Cabo Verdean-Rotterdam band Rabasa. Image courtesy of the band and Nosagenda.
Programme
- In addition to the panel discussion, there will be live music by Rabasa, a band from the Cabo Verdean diaspora in and around Rotterdam. They have developed their own sound, sometimes melancholic, sometimes steamy, from the various genres and styles of the archipelago. Nassan Sousa Silva Lopes will provide music from Guinea-Bissau
- There will be DJ sets by DJ Jaïro and DJ MF Andrade who will play everything from old-school hip-hop and Detroit techno to traditional African music and Cabo Verdean hits – exclusively on vinyl and from their own collection of ‘Black gold’
- Market stalls will be selling Cabo Verdean snacks and other products (a pasty and a rissois are included in the ticket price for Dance of Freedom)
- There will be a special children’s corner for young visitors with workshops led by Brinka Ku Mi
- The film The Eleventh Island: Activating Silent Histories through Video, by researcher and filmmaker Janilda Bartolomeu, will be shown in the Auditorium throughout the event
Pop-up exhibition: 100 X Viva Cabral
Visit the temporary exhibition that will open during the event: ‘Viva Cabral’ in one hundred paintings and drawings. Nosagenda brings the touring group exhibition 100 X Viva Cabral to the Nieuwe Instituut for a few days. To mark the centenary of the birth of independence fighter Amílcar Cabral, various painters and illustrators from Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Portugal have been inspired by his life and work. The exhibition will be unveiled during the Nosagenda Dance of Freedom event on 5 July.