Empire

Whether you’re of Dutch heritage or not, artist and video journalist duo Eline Jongsma and Kel O’Neill’s newest film Empire should not be missed.

This screening, taking place on 10 November 2011 at the Stevenson gallery in Cape Town is the fourth piece in the pair’s Empire series. Entitled Empire 29°00’ S, 24°00’ E this edition looks at how the lives of residents in Orania and members of the Cape Malay choirs are influenced by the Dutch East India Company.

Kel and Eline spent one week filming on location in Orania, a private community for white Afrikaners in the Northern Cape. Although Orania is a relatively new community, its societal structure is in many ways defined by the Dutch colonial endeavour. It is a village built on Dutch Calvinist values where all residents are expected to be fluent in Afrikaans – a language derived primarily from 17th and 18th century Dutch.

The pair continued filming in Cape Town, where they investigated “Nederlandsliedjes” or “Dutch Songs”. Nederlandsliedjes are folk songs sung by Cape Town’s Cape Malay Choirs. Originally performed in Dutch, Nederlandsliedjes have stayed alive for generations through an oral tradition, with young singers learning the lyrics from old masters. Over time, the songs’ words have transformed into a hybrid language that is neither Dutch nor Afrikaans.

Empire: 29º00′ S, 24º00′ E combines scenes of day-to-day life in Orania with live recordings of “Rosa”, the most popular of the Cape Malay Nederlandsliedjes. Blended together, these two elements serve to create a narrative that examines the values and trappings of inherited cultural legacies.

This investigation into the architectural, cultural and spiritual traces left behind by the Dutch East India Company is done through intimate first person accounts of people and communities who still live in ways defined by the Dutch colonial endeavour.

Eline and Kel are distinguished video journalists who have screened films at international film festivals and in galleries the world over.

We’ll be there to watch the film at 6 pm on 10 November 2011, will you?

More information: www.stevenson.info