Holding Space with Aminata CairoHolding Space with Aminata Cairo

In Holding Space, Cairo presents her own unique vision of the promotion of inclusion that far surpasses the standard diversity and inclusivity approaches. She grounds her work in indigenous knowledge, the blues aesthetics, holy hip hop, and Caribbean and Black feminist theories. She engages her audience through storytelling, with the ultimate aim of creating a new story, collectively.

In this book presentation she takes the audience along in the concept of "holding space".

With readings from her book, song and dance she challenges the audience to take a closer look at themselves and each other, raising the question of what it really takes to collectively create an environment of equality and validation.

"It is about us, all of us," is her message, as she forces us to feel, hear, and own that.

Aminata Cairo is an anthropologist, psychologist, educator, storyteller and "love-worker". She is an independent consultant "who works with people". She is the former lector of Inclusive Education at The Hague University of Applied Sciences. She was the first (and so far only) lector of African descent in the Netherlands.

Reading Room is a series of evenings dedicated to the acts of reading and collective listening. It is a place to decipher the world with its countless languages and systems, including phenomena that by their ubiquity evade investigation. Led by an artist, researcher or designer, the audience is invited to engage in a reading of a particular concept, text, object or image. A sound artist or musician is invited to guide the listeners on this sonic journey with an accompanying soundtrack. Engaging multiple senses including the bodily and non-verbal opens up the possibility of learning from each other beyond just words.