Living Room Session 4

Welcome to the fourth edition of the Living Room Session. A place that radiates familiarity and warmness, as well as a place where people come together, get inspired and recharge in various ways.

Take a seat in the living room as moderator Shaquille Shaniqua Joy guides you through an evening with a meditative spoken word performance by artist and writer Julia-Beth Harris, screening of “The water brought us” (2023), a moving image collage by visual artist Siomara van Bochove, a visual exploration of dreaming by artist TengTeng Ho and a transcending musical performance by Illnoledge. Start your weekend well on the 6th of October and allow yourself to be present while getting inspired by sound, film, art and conversations.

We dream in our sleep to work through emotions and experiences from the past or to create visual reflections of our wishes for the future. Some of us might spend time daydreaming, manifesting and creating future scenarios, while others sometimes need to be reminded to embrace this desire our inner child longs for. We can dream of things collectively, for someone else or ourselves. These dreams emerge from our experiences, might change over time and can be supported by our environment or misunderstood based on our different perceptions. While preparing for this session, the question most people asked when first hearing the subject was: ‘Dreaming in what way?’ As broad as the subject is, will be the lineup of the fourth Living Room Session, which explores dreaming through various mediums, including spoken word, visual collages, art, music and conversations.

The living room is a metaphor for a place that radiates intimate, familiar, warm and welcoming energy and a space where people come together. It unites art hanging on the walls, music that one might play or listen to, movies you watch, and conversations with others in the space. The Living Room Session brings all of these aspects together in an evening of inspiration curated and hosted by Shaquille Shaniqua Joy at Felix Meritis. 

Join moderator and program maker Shaquille Shaniqua Joy and her guests for this Living Room Session and allow yourself to be present.

Due to the setup of Living Room Session 4, we encourage our guests to arrive before 20:00 (8pm).

Would you like to attend this program, but don’t have the means to pay for a ticket? Send an email to info@felixmeritis.nl, we can work something out.

Shaquille Shaniqua Joy | Moderator, Program Maker & Creative Producer

Shaquille Shaniqua Joy is an interdisciplinary creative focusing on storytelling through different mediums. Within the cultural sector, her role ranges from researching to conceptualizing and writing, focusing on moderation and program-making. Her excitement for people and their fascinations is the base of her practice as a moderator, in which she always strives to have conversations rather than interviews.

Within her work, Shaquille explores sociopolitical and pop-cultural subjects by combining research and the embodied experiences of herself and others. This has led her to a range of conversations and programs, including live and recorded panel talks, reporting formats and exhibitions in collaboration with cultural institutions, organizations and museums, as well as commercial brands.

Teng Teng Ho |  Visual Artist

TengTeng Ho is a visual artist based in Amsterdam.

In her practice, she often juxtaposes her diasporic upbringing, by building combinations between her Chinese-Belgian cultural identity, dealing with perspectives living in in-between. Her intention is to create bridges between research, sociopolitical issues and own lived experiences. This is used as a tool to promote non-Western-centric perspectives and amplifying underrepresented voices.

She works mainly through a mixture of physical and a variety of digital tools, to create audiovisual experiences. This is translated into different digital outlets such as animations, 3D and generative art.

Most notable among her previous works are: “The Curse of the Smile”, a documentary tackling the experiences the life as a ‘Chinese take-out daughter’ living in the West in connection with her parent’s restaurant. As well as “The web that has no weaver” , in which she created a digital headpiece based on the facial meridians and their acupuncture points, paying homage to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Julia-Beth Harris | Artist & Writer

Julia-Beth Harris writes creative texts and performs them. With completed degrees in Graphic and Fashion Design, her words embody a visual, multi-layered quality. This led to a study in creative writing at the International Writer’s Collective in Amsterdam – where she now lives and works.

Having identities on different continents Julia-Beth’s fascination is positioned between the global North and South. With an emphasis on unification as activism, her writings serve as a bridge between cultures, bringing together international communities with grace, intellect, and calmly commanding stage presence.

Siomara van Bochove | Visual Artist

Siomara Ratna van Bochove is a visual artist based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Her practice finds its foundation in her family and its multicultural legacy. Through her work she investigates the space in-between cultures and the nuances and ambiguity of her hybrid identity. Transforming notions of displacement and non belonging to offerings and dreams of what might emerge from her versatility and experiences. Simultaneously, she’s aiming to restore the relationship between her heritage and its connected histories.

In “The water brought us” (2023), she employs the movement of the ocean as a methodical and symbolic tool to resonate and re-contextualize the colonial history of forced migration, racial capitalism and contemporary Black experience. By metaphorically using the daily tide and the waves that either break or reach the shores of the land, the work questions and re-explores the relationship between the land and the sea, specifically the area between Surinam, Africa, Indonesia and The Netherlands. The central idea of the work is that of ancestors journeying towards new possibilities.

How did our ancestors imagine the future when they were involuntarily moved to unknown worlds? Can we imagine narratives beyond the colonial and imperial lens? How do we re-interpret the images that are embedded in the cultural archives and how can we reframe them in a new perspective?

The work does not offer answers, rather it looks to open access to an as yet unspoken, perhaps unconscious area. A potential area that allows for rhythmic, rhizomatic and non-linear theories of time and experiences of moving between multiple cultural spaces.

Illnoledge | Artists

Illnoledge is a brother duo of Steve Hartley and Mill Voyance.

Music and spirituality are closely related – This is the philosophy with which the brothers were raised. I.L.L.N.O.L.E.D.G.E. It’s an acronym for: Intuitive, Limitless, Liberal-minded, New-fangled, Original, Luminous, Educative, Dedicated, Genuine, Elevators. Growing up to a broad spectrum of music and finding their foundation in black music they’ve developed a sound called “Akan Fu” putting their focus on cultural heritage.

Adjoamoon | Artists

Adjoamoon is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural entrepreneur with Ghanaian roots.

In both her work and personal life Adjoa often combines her ancestral lineage with spiritual practices. 

Raised by Ghanaian parents Adjoa grew up with ‘Anansesem’ a form of storytelling associated with Anansi the spider. 

With this knowledge channeling the trickster Gods by telling a tale in a performance whereby movement art is combined with story telling. Through music, Adjoa performs in a ritualistic manner that encompasses storytelling through dance. Taking you on a journey back into time. Or is it back to the future?

Zoë Janice | DJ

Zoë Janice is an Amsterdam based DJ and Creative.
She loves to tell stories through music by blending multiple genres
such as Hip Hop and R&B but can also make you dance to Afrobeats,
Amapiano or Baile Funk with her Afro-Brazilian roots.