Papers by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Feminist Review, 2022
In this article, the authors take up the historical figure of Dr Betty Paërl, who has surprisingl... more In this article, the authors take up the historical figure of Dr Betty Paërl, who has surprisingly turned up in very different kinds of specialised archives. The white mathematics professor was located in IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, the largest queer heritage collection in Europe, as a notable SM sexpert and spokesperson on transgender politics, and also found during archival research into the anti-(neo)colonial struggles of Suriname against the Dutch. Upon closer inspection of the materials, the authors find the recurrent image/item of the whip that presses them to carefully think through how the archive of Dr Paërl casts light on a history that Katherine McKittrick calls being 'in the shadow of the whip'. The article aims to combine an analysis of these versions of the whip in different visual and discursive registers to detect the liberatory politics underlying her activisms. To do so, the authors develop the intersectional model of the kaleidoscope employed by Dutch Black, migrant and refugee (BMR) feminist theorists to grasp the shifting patterns of power that Paërl battled and embodied as an activist of the anticolonial struggle, for sex workers' rights, for kinky sex and for transgender people. This is all the more important in the historical study of transgender visual materials that most often arrive in archives via medical and police photography or pornographic materials. The historical researcher, the article argues, should be wary of (re)producing a static vision that would reduce transgender figures to sex and gender politics, or eclipse a vision of trans politics that dilates beyond sexuality.
Inward Outward, Emotion in the Archive: A Publication of the 2021 Inward Outward Symposium, 2022
In this short chapter I focus on the themes of love and compassion and take a look at the archive... more In this short chapter I focus on the themes of love and compassion and take a look at the archives of SUHO (Surinamese Homosexuals), a Dutch LGBTQIA+ group in the 1980s, and their reflections on James Baldwin. Through SUHO's accounts of Baldwin, I analyse how they reflected on racism, compassion and archival desires in the context of a transnational dialogue.
Routledge Companion to Sexuality and Colonialism, 2021
This chapter is a theoretical re-imagination of sexual citizenship through an engagement with the... more This chapter is a theoretical re-imagination of sexual citizenship through an engagement with the cultural practices of the Curaçaoan born theater-maker Fridi Martina. I discuss how her articulation of ideas about sexuality contribute to broader theoretical and collective political efforts to radically re-imagine so-called “queer” politics. That is, a critique of heteronormativity as well as an intersectional analysis that brings into focus axes of sexuality, class, gender, and race. I argue that the particular political situation of the Dutch Caribbean, neither independent nor officially a colony, but a form of strategic and neo-colonial entanglement with the former metropolis is a start where we might conceptualize what I term queer sovereignties. The chapter interweaves two different materials. First, an analysis of interviews with Martina that critiques the epistemology of sexual identity. Second, a close reading of Martina’s performance Siegu pa Kolo (Papiamentu for Colorblind, 1978) that contends we should combat racism and colorism independently and synchronously. Through this material, I foreground a re-imagination of sexual citizenship that critiques not only the heterosexualization and masculinization of the state, but also considers how colonialism, imperialism, and their effects dictate the socioeconomic lives of Black queer people.
Critical Archival Engagements with Sounds and Films of Coloniality, 2020
During the conference, we were moved to see the deep and sometimes shallow use of the term decolo... more During the conference, we were moved to see the deep and sometimes shallow use of the term decolonization. The conference asked this guiding question that illustrates the importance of effort, of labor in the action of decolonizing: “What kinds of (new) models and methods exist that seek to question archival practices in an effort to ‘decolonize’ the archive?” For our contribution, we offer a short reflection on the use of terminology related to the decolonial. For us, the effect to decolonize the archive—or any other domain—harkens back to how the efforts to “queer” tended to expand rather than narrow down accompanying methods. It strikes us that to decolonize, like queering, can become used as a “magical term” that has a particular power when invoked by a researcher: it makes the work called for or carried out seem relevant and necessary. At the same time, these concepts often go undefined, and therefore risk being emptied out of meaning and actual critical action. We would like to focus on how concepts, practices, and methods require the trouble of being parsed and reflected on, even when—especially when— the work is tough and troubling
Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2019
This year's pride season marked the 50 th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, an event that, whil... more This year's pride season marked the 50 th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, an event that, while not the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement in the United States, should at least be viewed as one of the first major milestones in the movement's history. In the Netherlands, too, the history of LGBT activism has been commemorated in the recent exhibition 'With Pride' , organised by IHLIA LGBT Heritage (see the review by Michiel Odijk in this issue). After its first successful run at the Amsterdam Public Library, the exhibition toured the Netherlands and opened in Utrecht during its annual pride festivities on June 3. While praised for its thorough documentation of 40 years of Dutch queer resistance, there was also critique. A number of activists and scholars pointed to a lack of inclusivity and representation, which they argued compromised the exhibition's validity.Wigbertson Julian Isenia and Naomie Pieter, founders of Black Queer and Trans Resistance Netherlands (BQTRNL) and Black Queer Archive, represent two of these critical voices and address the structural exclusion of queers of colour in history writing and archival practices in their work. Julian co-edited the previous issue of Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies (vol. 22(2): ‘Sexual Politics Between the Netherlands and the Caribbean: Imperial Entanglements and Archival Desire’) and, together with Gianmaria Colpani, Julian and Naomie organised the roundtable ‘Archiving Queer of Colour Politics in the Netherlands’ (Colpani, Isenia, & Pieter, 2019). In response to the IHLIA exhibi- tion, they proposed an exhibition under the title Nos Tei (Papiamentu/o for ‘We are here’ or ‘We exist’), which is to serve as an addition to the original ‘With Pride’ exhibition and ran independently from 11 July until 4 September
Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2019
This roundtable stages a conversation amongst activists and cultural producers involved in femini... more This roundtable stages a conversation amongst activists and cultural producers involved in feminist and queer of colour politics in the Netherlands from the 1980s to the present. Its primary focus is on the collectives and initiatives that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, such as SUHO (Surinamese Homosexuals), Flamboyant, Zami, Sister Outsider, and Strange Fruit. The roundtable participants-Anne Krul, Tieneke Sumter, Andre Reeder, Marlon Reina, and Ajamu-reflect on several issues, amongst which the political orga-nising around blackness in the 1980s and 1990s, the relations between queer of colour collectives and other movements, the links between political orga-nising and cultural work, the differences between activism and archiving in Curaçao and the Netherlands, and, finally, the possibilities and limits of archi-ving queer of colour histories in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The roundta-ble also discusses two exhibitions held at IHLIA LGBT Heritage in Amsterdam: We Live Here (2009), on the history of the black lesbian and gay community in the Netherlands, and With Pride (2018), on the history of Dutch sexual politics.
Tijdschrift voor Genderstudies, 2019
What does it mean to look for queerness in colonial, anticolonial, and postcolonial archives? Wha... more What does it mean to look for queerness in colonial, anticolonial, and postcolonial archives? What can these archives tell us about formations of queer desire and sexual politics across times and places? And what can queerness tell us, in turn, about colonial domination, struggles for decoloni- sation, and the configuration of postcolonial societies? Equally important, what investments come to shape our work when a search for queerness orients our mining of colonial, anticolonial, and postcolonial archives? The essays collected in this special issue offer some answers to these questions by discussing the place of sexual politics in the colonial and postcolonial relations between the Netherlands and the Caribbean. In order to do so, they draw on postcolonial studies, cultural studies, feminist and queer theories, as well as current debates on the archive taking place across these fields.
Tijdschrift voor genderstudies, 2019
How can we embrace the appeal to use Caribbean terms for same-sex erotic relationships when we wo... more How can we embrace the appeal to use Caribbean terms for same-sex erotic relationships when we work with archives-such as the colonial archive-whose subjects are spoken about and do not speak back (at least not in a way that is understandable or recognisable to us)? This article deals with the term kambrada in Papiamentu in the context of Curaçao. The term can be translated as zami in Caribbean English Creole and mati in Suriname's Sranan Tongo. The Caribbean terms zami and mati, like kambrada, can refer to a (non-sexual) female or male companion as well as to female same-sex erotic relationships. I trace the appearance of kambrada in the Dutch colonial archive by looking at the first three (known) sources that mention female same-sex relationships in the Dutch Caribbean in general, and kambrada relationships in particular. These are the anthropological study Curaçao en Zijne Bewoners (Curaçao and Its Habitants, 1882) by Antoine T. Brusse, the travelogue Naar de Antillen en Venezuela (To the Antilles and Venezuela, 1904) by Henri van Kol, and the novel E No Por Casa (She Cannot Marry, 1923) by Willem Kroon. I do not approach these texts as sources for the recovery of the voices of women who engaged in kambrada relationships. Rather, I group them together as part of a 'cultural archive' to show how, as cultural articulations of sexuality, they simultaneously articulate colonial domination, social anxieties, and pa-triarchy. By deducing the ideological statements of these male authors, I take up Ann Stoler's invitation to read along the grain of the colonial archive.
Deze blog verscheen eerder op atria.nl.
Voor de Black Achievement Month vroeg Atria vier mensen... more Deze blog verscheen eerder op atria.nl.
Voor de Black Achievement Month vroeg Atria vier mensen een bijzonder collectiestuk te belichten uit de archieven van zwarte vrouwen(bewegingen) die tegen het establishment in belangrijk werk hebben verricht. Onderzoeker en mede-oprichter van Black Queer & Trans Resistance NL Wigbertson Julian Isenia licht in deze blog een affiche uit van Villa Baranka, een kunstsalon voor en door kunstenaars met een biculturele achtergrond in Nederland (1986 tot 1989).
Gianmaria Colpani and Julian Isenia examine the intellectual work performed by queer of color col... more Gianmaria Colpani and Julian Isenia examine the intellectual work performed by queer of color collectives in the Netherlands during the 1980s and 1990s. Discussing two collectives (Sister Outsider and Strange Fruit) and two intellectuals working in them (Professor Gloria Wekker and film-maker André Reeder), they show how queer of color activism emerged from broader cultural exchanges inside and outside Europe.
Book Reviews by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Ashley Tellis and Sruti Bala’s collection of essays maps the circulation of the term ‘queer’ by o... more Ashley Tellis and Sruti Bala’s collection of essays maps the circulation of the term ‘queer’ by outlining how same-sex intimacies and sexual politics from and of the Global South are theorised and entangled in processes of globalisation. The fifteen essays investigate if the societies of the Global South merely appropriate and propagate ‘an internationalist (read Euro-US) language of LGBT/queer rights and identity politics, whether it is imposed on them or whether there is a productive negotiation of that language’ (p. 19). Tellis and Bala offer a profound critique of theoretical frameworks in which same-sex discourses in the Southern Hemisphere are uncritically envisioned within a global ‘queer’ internationalist language, without discussing the term’s political, economic, and cultural underpinnings. It argues for a particular specificity when it comes to scholarly work on local expressions of same-sex desire, although refraining from nativist and cultural relativism rhetorics.
Books by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, 2017
Starting from the notion of 'post-democracy' elaborated by Colin Crouch, which indicates an incre... more Starting from the notion of 'post-democracy' elaborated by Colin Crouch, which indicates an increasing tendency towards the deterioration of democratic principles and the narrowing of the public sphere, this book explores how, in the Dutch context, this process is influenced by theatre and performance practice, art policy and governmental action. It points out that, within discourses of post-democracy, aspects of depoliticisation are commonly assessed through theatrical concepts such as spectacle, play, game and theatre. At the same time, this work argues by an analysis of three performances, 'Wijksafari Utrecht' by Adelheid Roosen, a political protest by Quinsy Gario, and 'Labyrinth' by the refugee group 'We are Here Cooperative', that there might be a role for theatre in this age of depoliticisation. It proposes to scrutinise, based on the writings of Samuel Weber, a paradox of theatre. Namely, while concepts of theatre are applied to convey disapproval of government and politics, theatre has a possible emancipatory character to dispute the given order.
Talks by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, 2022
Edgar Cairo (1948-2000) was een Surinaams schrijver en kunstenaar. In de lhbti-scene is hij voora... more Edgar Cairo (1948-2000) was een Surinaams schrijver en kunstenaar. In de lhbti-scene is hij vooral bekend van Dat Boelgedicht.
IHLIA LGBT+ Archive, 2022
Anne Krul (1958-) is een zwarte beeldend kunstenares, schrijfster, dichteres en activiste. In de ... more Anne Krul (1958-) is een zwarte beeldend kunstenares, schrijfster, dichteres en activiste. In de jaren negentig was zij actief in verschillende lhbti+- en vrouwenorganisaties zoals Strange Fruit, de internationale lesbische organisatie ILIS en in ZAMI, de organisatie voor zwarte, migranten- en vluchtelingenvrouwen. Uit haar werk kunnen we de pijnpunten en voordelen afleiden van het werken binnen en buiten witte organisaties en het politieke belang van het benoemen van onszelf.
IHLIA LGBT+ heritage, 2022
Tieneke Sumter, geboren in Suriname, is een activiste met een staat van dienst van meer dan vier ... more Tieneke Sumter, geboren in Suriname, is een activiste met een staat van dienst van meer dan vier decennia aan intersectioneel werk. Ze was lid van Sister Outsider en SUHO, en is momenteel voorzitter van Survibes.
IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, 2022
SUHO (1980-1985) was een groep voor lhbtiq+-personen van Surinaamse afkomst in Nederland. De groe... more SUHO (1980-1985) was een groep voor lhbtiq+-personen van Surinaamse afkomst in Nederland. De groep werd mede opgericht door Lionel Jokhoe en Max Lievendag. Begin jaren tachtig vocht SUHO artikel 302 van het Surinaams Wetboek van Strafrecht aan, een koloniaal overblijfsel van het Nederlandse artikel 248bis.
IHLIA LGTB+ Heritage, 2022
Strange Fruit (1989-2003) was een groep lhbtiq+-jongeren met een migratieachtergrond. De groep bo... more Strange Fruit (1989-2003) was een groep lhbtiq+-jongeren met een migratieachtergrond. De groep bood een alternatief voor de overwegend witte lhbtiq+-scene in Amsterdam. Door hun manier van organiseren kunnen ze een inspiratiebron zijn voor het huidige activisme.
IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, 2022
Fridi Martina (1950-2014) was een actrice, zanger en schrijfster uit Curaçao. Martina stelde de l... more Fridi Martina (1950-2014) was een actrice, zanger en schrijfster uit Curaçao. Martina stelde de labeling van haar seksualiteit ter discussie en sprak over haar relaties in beschrijvende termen.
IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, 2022
Joanna Werners (1953) is een in Suriname geboren en getogen schrijfster. Haar debuutroman Droomhu... more Joanna Werners (1953) is een in Suriname geboren en getogen schrijfster. Haar debuutroman Droomhuid (1987) is een autobiografische roman over haar eerste verliefdheid op een zwarte vrouw, die haar leven voorgoed zou veranderen. Haar werk verwijst voortdurend naar Suriname en vrouwen die van vrouwen houden.
IHLIA LGBT+ Heritage, 2022
André Reeder (1954-), geboren in Moengo (Suriname), is freelance filmmaker en maatschappelijk wer... more André Reeder (1954-), geboren in Moengo (Suriname), is freelance filmmaker en maatschappelijk werker in de Bijlmermeer. Eind jaren zeventig en in de jaren tachtig was hij actief in de politieke organisatie LOSON en redacteur van het LOSON-blad Wrokoman. LOSON hield zich voornamelijk bezig met de dekolonisatie van Suriname en het racisme dat Surinamers in Nederland ervaren. Van 1992 tot 2002 was Reeder betrokken bij Strange Fruit, een Nederlands collectief van lhbti-jongeren met een migratieachtergrond dat vocht tegen hun marginalisering binnen zowel hun etnische gemeenschap als de Nederlandse homoscene.
Uploads
Papers by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Voor de Black Achievement Month vroeg Atria vier mensen een bijzonder collectiestuk te belichten uit de archieven van zwarte vrouwen(bewegingen) die tegen het establishment in belangrijk werk hebben verricht. Onderzoeker en mede-oprichter van Black Queer & Trans Resistance NL Wigbertson Julian Isenia licht in deze blog een affiche uit van Villa Baranka, een kunstsalon voor en door kunstenaars met een biculturele achtergrond in Nederland (1986 tot 1989).
Book Reviews by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Books by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Talks by Wigbertson Julian Isenia
Voor de Black Achievement Month vroeg Atria vier mensen een bijzonder collectiestuk te belichten uit de archieven van zwarte vrouwen(bewegingen) die tegen het establishment in belangrijk werk hebben verricht. Onderzoeker en mede-oprichter van Black Queer & Trans Resistance NL Wigbertson Julian Isenia licht in deze blog een affiche uit van Villa Baranka, een kunstsalon voor en door kunstenaars met een biculturele achtergrond in Nederland (1986 tot 1989).
In november 2017 werd er in de gemeenteraad van Rotterdam een motie van oud-PvdA-raadslid Peggy Wijntuin aangenomen, waarin werd gevraagd om onderzoek naar het koloniale en slavernijverleden van Rotterdam. Voor dit onderzoek is opdracht gegeven aan het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land-en Volkenkunde (KITLV) dat het onderzoek in nauwe samenwerking met het Stadsarchief Rotterdam, de Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam en het Rotterdam Museum uitvoert. De motie en het onderzoeksproject zijn niet zonder kritiek ontvangen. Van verschillende kanten zijn er vragen en bezwaren gekomen over de toekenning en aanpak van het onderzoek en de consequenties ervan voor de stad en haar inwoners. Wat uit deze kritieken vooral naar voren komt, is het mogelijke spanningsveld tussen inclusiviteit/multiperspectiviteit en wetenschappelijk onderzoek. De kritiek varieerde van "Een dergelijke onderzoeksopzet laat te veel ruimte voor het vervallen in een subjectief en anekdotisch relaas" vanuit de VVD, tot "De uitnodiging tot samenwerking is een uitnodiging waarin zogezegd het feestje al bepaald is, en het er vooral gaat om op hun maat te blijven dansen" vanuit Counter/Narratives."
Ik was uitgenodigd om een reactie te geven op dit project op 15 november 2019 tijdens het evenement Kennisproductie (Onderzoek), Inclusiviteit en kwesties rondom Positionaliteit in het Wereldmuseum te Rotterdam.
policy and military defence of the entire kingdom. In my dissertation, I propose to go beyond the binary of sovereign/nonsovereign and to understand the Caribbean islands of the Dutch Kingdom as having both a postcolonial sovereignty and a neocolonial relationship with the Netherlands