The evening was filled with islands, imaginary countries and music from areas where the borders never really consolidated. With Adwin de Kluyver, Nelis Smouter and Balkan choir Slavuj. Graphic designer Floor Koomen about Cabinda and a quiz by Suzanne Hendriks. Moderation: Jorie Horsthuis.
De Facto's own Floor Koomen, Suzanne Hendriks and Jorie Horsthuis
Jerney Hakkenberg
‘Where I’m from, it’s cold Here, where I am now, my life is slowly warming up Show me what it’s like to live among you’
With this Romani/Hungarian song called ‘Lindrají szi’ the Amsterdam choir Slavuj kicked off. Slavuj means nightingale in Serbocroatian and on this fourth edition of De Facto Live on Tour at Deventers’ Mimik, a selection of the choir, conducted by Ivo Boswijk was present. They took us to areas where borders never really consolidated, like the Black Sea and the Balkans. Who needs air travel when you can have the voices and sounds of these talented singers?
Slavuj
Jerney Hakkenberg
From there, De Facto’s own Jorie Horsthuis took us back to Nagorno-Karabakh, the Caucasian state that ceased to exist one year ago. She visited people who fled to Armenia, like former vice-minister Ruzanna Sargsyan. For Dutch articles on this visit, you can have a look here and here. With so many geopolitics overflowing us in the daily news, it’s easy to forget the ongoing situation in disputed areas and in non-recognised countries.
Next, we had graphic designer Floor Koomen zooming in on Cabinda, a de facto state near Angola and with massive oil fields. With coins, conmen and kalashnikovs, it was an intriguing and thoughtprovoking little trip.
Graphic designer Floor Koomen about Cabinda, coins, kalashnikov and conmen.
Jerney Hakkenberg
After that, we traveled onto Tinelië, a country invented and designed by 11-year old Nelis Smouter from Deventer. He discovered it close to the Bounty Islands and it can be reached through a whirlpool. He guided us through its geography, people and its fauna, like ‘the common toeloeki’. A great piece of geofiction which made us hungry for more.
Jorie Horsthuis and Nelis Smouter
Jerney Hakkenberg
There are 450.000 islands in the world bigger than one hectare. Writer, historian and part-time islander Adwin de Kluyver wrote an amazing book about some 60 of them: ‘The Islands of Good and Evil’. For De Facto he made a top 5 of islands on which people try or tried to make some claim of sovereignty. From Sealand with Prince Paddy to the Empress of Floreana and from Null Island to libertarians on 3D printed island-pods, it was an interesting and crazy trip around the world.
Writer and historian Adwin de Kluyver
Jerney Hakkenberg
The members of the choir Slavuj took us to Ukraine and Russia with the songs ‘Cujes, brate myj’ and the Roma song ‘Solnyshko’. Our audience shared with us their favorite islands, ranging from a cooking island ‘kook-eiland’ to all-time favorite Wadden Islands and further-away islands like a Japanese island where the heartbeats of deceased people can be heard.
Slavuj, with conductor Ivo Boswijk
Jerney Hakkenberg
Of course there was also a quiz by researcher Suzanne Hendriks, featuring mustached border pilgrims, melting glaciers and the newest microstates. The winner took home some chocolates from dwarfstate San Marino. We are already looking forward to the next edition! Hope to see you there, on January 29th 2025, at Mimik, Deventer.
De Facto Live in the media: we also had a raving review by Harrie Kiekenbosch from Hier in Salland.
And for everyone who wants to read more about Deventers strange western border and exclave, check out this article that one of our visitors wrote!