A Night of Expression

The Poets of the Evening

On Friday 11th of December a group of global poets were invited to share the state at World's Culture House in Nørrebro. The event was hosted by VAVAC with this being the first installment of a series entitled MUND-til-MUND no. 1,  ”Portraying the personal interpretations of the cultural hybridity experience.”

According to Vis-a-Vis Art Collective, MUND til MUND is a series of spoken word sessions which creates a platform from which the right to SELF define and SELF-liberate will flourish.
Consciously targeting minority positions in Denmark by highlighting the African diaspora. Their aim is to create a space for expression rather than explanation. They see Spoken Word as a socially engaging art form, which can expand the self-liberation to a collective liberation.

Poets captured by Heather Spears

I first met Heather Spears, the writer and artist, many years ago through the American Women's Club writers group- the talented women I collaborated with for the anthology of English speaking writers in Denmark entitled Good Works. It's always wonderful to see familiar faces in the audience and she made an amazing collection of sketches of the performers of the evening. Thank you Heather! 

Yong Sun Gullach (South Korea/Denmark)

On Stage that night was Yong Sun Gullach - who presented, in Danish a poetic journey using sound and words.YONG SUN GULLACH is a Korean-Danish artist and activist operating at the boundaries of performance, poetry, film, music, noise and installation art. Her main themes investigate existential hidden or subconscious emotions and traumas and she unfolds the aesthetics of the expressions and narrations that are embedded in-between.  Yong Sun Gullach's work centers around her experience growing up in Denmark as a transnational adoptee. 

Wanijiku-Victoria Seest (Kenya)

WANJIKU VICTORIA SEEST was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. She is an actress and singer/songwriter who is currently based in Denmark. Her self-expression is a blend of her traditional African roots merged with the influences surrounding her. Wanjiku developed a deep love for the performing arts at an early age. Her work this evening confronted and challenged the predominant Western narrative of what it means to be "African" and how that definition is often premised on victimhood and an idea of backwardness. 

Uzi Sipamla (South Africa)

MZI SIPAMLA came to Denmark more then 6 years ago. Before entering Denmark he lived in numerous places around the world, but started his life in a township in South Africa. Being born and growing up during apartheid has given him an unusual perspective of life. Mzi had, through his family, the possibility of seeing the world of South Africa pre 1994 with different eyes. No doubt he was black, but he got an education with white kids, both a blessing 

and a struggle, but that opportunity has developed his possibilities of joggling between different worlds. His work explored the strange space often occupied by people of African descent who are earmarked as "Privileged". 

Helen Whitney Werle (Kenya/Denmark)

HELEN WHITNEY WERLE is a writer who was born and raised in Kenya. She writes from the perspective of a Queer Person of Colour, within the European and East African context. Helen has been living in Denmark for 4 years, and is currently based in Copenhagen. She enjoys reading books, organising events and being active in the Queer-Feminist environment. Her work explored the relationship of identity, particularly how it changes in context from one culture to the next. 

Celeste Michel Abu-Djibril Nshimiyimana (Rwanda)

CÉLESTE MICHEL KIGALI NSHIMIYIMANA is a Rawandan- Danish student at Roskilde University. He occupies himself with film, photography and music and works cross-displinary with a focus on the Middle East. His essay/poem that he presented dives into the intersectionality of being marganiized as a person of African descent and those of Middle  Eastern descent here in Denmark. 

Lesley-Ann Brown (Trinidad/US/Denmark)

It's been a long time since I've read my work and the keyword that night was "privilege" - I thought long and hard about the work I would present that night, having to choose between my older work and newer poems, many of which I haven't shared with anyone yet. Since it was a somewhat "new" audience I was meeting, I chose to read a few poems from my collection "The Organist's Daughter" as I thought it was an excellent opportunity to present a more nuanced view of what it means to be American. I ended with reading a newer poem which I have been crafting for quite some time now, entitled "the Memory of Mother". 

It was indeed a special evening. Later I bumped into the guys from Reverend Shine Snake Oil & Co. It was great to see Claudius Pratt, Justin Gunn and Martin Ollivierre and catch up, it's been too long. Some of my former students came to see the performance that night with one of them Maya, recently returning from Palestine. It's always great to see them, and Zanubia and I were able to exchange notes about her experience on the panel at the latest Women of Color Panel that took place earlier this month, which I was asked to moderate. 

farvel, 

Lesley-Ann