A new edition of Spark Narration

General Introduction

Because of the extensive and diverse possibilities offered by the combination of art and journalism, Spark Narration presents the opportunity to pioneer at the intersection of art and journalism.

In times of continuous media innovation, we see a unique challenge to ensure the complete representation of society - gender, age, sexual orientation, different expertise, racial, cultural, religious, political, and all other forms of human diversity - in the media. How can we implement diversity and inclusion in relevant media projects? How can diversity inspire media innovation to a broader public debate?

Theme: Suriname in Amsterdam-Noord

Amsterdam-Noord is raw, industrial, village, multicultural, established, and emerging at the same time. A Lab Amsterdam offers us the physical place; a laboratory for creatives who are socially involved and connected by nature. From there we start the search for Suriname in Amsterdam-Noord.

“My parents were not allowed to live in the Van der Pekstraat in Amsterdam-Noord in the 1970s,” wrote Miguel Heilbron, founder of The Black Archives in De Correspondent during the month of undisclosed history in 2017. The generation Heilbron writes about grew up in the Bijlmer, or what is now called Zuidoost (South-East). That is also the first association in the city, the connection between Zuidoost and Suriname is widely known. But what about North?

Who are the people who did it differently back then? Who settled in North eventually? How did life go for them? And who moved to North later? Which creatives, cooks, politicians, neighborhood fathers and mothers, and entrepreneurs combine these backgrounds? This theme has many aspects and divergent angles for creative research and expressions. The Spark Narration collective will work on this in the coming year, to tell new stories about integration and to enrich the historiography of Amsterdam.

Lectures, workshops and advice

Alice Wong is a story designer and tutor at MA Information Design at Design Academy Eindhoven. Her research focuses on understanding our perception of reality. She translates complex information into elaborate, shareable stories. Her main area of interest is at the intersection of biographical documentary, media and social phenomena.

Isaura Sanwirjatmo is a visual artist of Surinamese Dutch descent. In her work, she experiments with new forms of storytelling, with the ultimate goal of making different worlds tangible for the public and making unequal structures in our society visible. Her work is at the intersection of fiction and non-fiction and is a mixture between documentary, internet culture, and performance.

Jaasir Linger is a research-based interdisciplinary artist with Surinamese roots. Through a process of personal exploration and an investigative attitude towards his Surinamese roots, the Afro-Surinamese religion Winti and the shared Dutch-Surinamese / Surinamese-Dutch history, he comes up with ideas that he translates into art-installation works.

Serginho Stekkel lived and worked in Amsterdam Noord since he was fifteen. He is an entrepreneur with experience in different branches. By mixing cultural, commercial and social components in his programmes he brings different worlds together. He is the owner of Bureau Stekks and board member of Adam Music School and The Black Male Archives.

The Black Archives is a unique historical archive for inspiring conversations, activities and literature from Black and other perspectives that are often overlooked elsewhere. The Black Archives documents the history of black emancipation movements and individuals in the Netherlands. The Black Archives is managed by the New Urban Collective.

Procedure

General information

Spark Narration is an initiative of ACED and VersPers in collaboration with A Lab. The program is supported by a grant from Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst.