It was my 25th birthday and I decided it was time. I called my father and told him. I started crying, which didn’t stop. His reaction was what I had expected, but not what I had hoped for. Not even a minute after I hung up the phone, there was a knock at my door. My friends stood on my doorstep, singing, with my birthday gift: a shiny disco ball. With wet cheeks from crying I hung the disco ball on the ceiling, between the garlands.
February 17th marks the next step in our collaboration with Les Grands Carmes, queer space for art and debate. Pianist, theater director and activist Djuwa Mroivili will be narrating a highly personal story about her coming out, resistance from her family, her road to self acceptance and the music that accompanied her throughout.
After her coming out, Mroivili spent a month in mourning, a month which she had meticulously planned beforehand. During this time, she traveled, forced herself to accept love and care from her chosen family, and meandered between abundance and loss, joy and sadness, past and future. In Queer Consouling she shares her stories and analyses from this time, and music she discovered which helped her heal. Pieces you will hear this evening are from Florence Price, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert, alongside Comorian lullabies from her upbringing.
Djuwa Mroivili (Amsterdam, 1998) is a Comorian-Dutch artist, afro hair inspirator, pianist, fangirl, curator and researcher, who got her education at the ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle. Although classically trained, she likes to experiment with new concert formats and interaction with different genres. During her performances - often conceptually layered and rooted in archival research - positions herself as a vulnerable narrator, and uses music, word, images and body to tell her story. She is one of the founding members of Hungry, Angry, Late & Tired (HALT), an organisation at ArtEZ focused on inclusion, and has an admiration for music from Afro-American composers in the first half of the 20th century. A documentary about her activism and artistic practice was made by Naomi White and awarded the Golden Calf in 2023. Her music theatre was part of the programme at Dutch National Opera, Bijlmer Parktheater, Theater Frascati and Theater Rotterdam. In 2024 she will release her debut album which was recorded with double bass player James Oesi.
What is the significance of “pride” and what is needed to unconditionally be yourself when your surroundings do hold conditions? We’ll find out together. Queer Consouling promises to be a touching musical story. Mark your calendar!