Elia Isenia
(Curaçao, 1957) is a singer, composer, cultural icon and story teller. She also writes poems and recites them. As a cultural agent, she receives a lot of information from the elderly about the traditional culture of Curaçao. It is from them that she has learned various work songs. Elia is often invited to schools and organizations to share her knowledge and experience with them. Besides all of the above, she is an expert in seú, tambú and tumba, the authentic rhythms of Curaçao. In 1991 Elia became the first Tumba Queen of Curaçao. In 2010 she was crowned for the third time as Tumba Queen for her winning tumba Mi pueblo a mandami (My People Have Sent Me), for which Elia herself wrote the lyrics and melody. On several occasions Elia represented Curaçao abroad, among others, in Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Suriname and the Netherlands.
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Archive available for: Elia Isenia
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Krusa Laman - Curaçao
With: Bas Heijne, Bernice Chauly, Dennis Aalse Ensemble, Diana Lebacs, Elia Isenia, Frouwkje Smit, Iman Humaydan, Roland Colastica, Roy Evers, Shrinivási, Yasmine Allas
On Curaçao the Fundashon pa Planifikashon di Idioma (Foundation for language planning), is the organisational partner for Winternachten. During the festival Krusa Laman on Curaçao all writers and performers will use their own language. Their words will be projected in the local language, Papiamentu. The translations have been taken care of by the FPI. This year's theme 'A sense of belonging' has been translated as the metaphor Kaminda rais a kue tera.
This theme is leading for the festival in Curaçao, and will be dealt with from different perspectives. A substheme is migration, and migration in literature. For FPI, the Curaçao anthropologist Richenel Ansano wrote a sensitive essay, Between Love and Terror: Having a Sense of Belonging is no Joke. This essay is available for free for the audience.The public library of Curaçao also gives special attention to the theme Kaminda rais a kue tera. On 9 April there will be a festive opening of an exhibition on Krusa Laman and the theme, with all sorts of information on the participating writers and artists, their work, countries of origin, etc..
Then there are the workshops for secondary school pupils, at the schools that will be visited by the authors. Creative writer Elodie Heloise is preparing the children and students for the festival in workshops. During these workshop the pupils will deal with the theme, and deliver materials for the exhibition in the library.
Of course the theme A Sense of Belonging is also present in the public performances. There are the readings of the authors, but besides this the visual artist Frouwkje Smit has made an artistic slideshow with pictures of a number of well known and lesser known people from the island, including writers and artists. Al the authors were asked to choose their favourite spot on Curaçao, where they feel most at home. They also chose a text with the spot. The slideshow is combined with music, and will be shown on Friday 16 April in Villa Maria, Scharloo. The versatile artist Roland Colastica will be the M.C. of that evening.
