SHISHANI & SISTERHOOD
A storytelling concertfilm where stories, art and colonial legacies collide. For this show artist Shishani dives into the various stories and art forms from Maluku, Namibia, Papua, Sumatra and Java and creates her own artistic interpretation in a 35 minutes storytelling concert film. Shishani brings together a diverse line-up of multi-disciplinary performers centralizing female artists. The storytelling concert film SHISHANI & SISTERHOOD is a concept and production by Shishani in collaboration with Erasmus Huis Jakarta and BEYOND WALLS. With special thanks to Het Tropenmuseum for facilitating the production. 

Shishani “I think it as very important that we were in that space, on our own terms, playing our own rhythms and speaking our language. Because I am used to walking in museums and seeing depictions of Africans, Papuans or Asians as something we look at and exhibit. But it does not necessarily feel like our place, our home.

To be there, walk down the big stairs and just hear the tifa through the hallway and just look at all the other women. It really felt like though we can’t repair what has happened, it does feel like we are taking in the space for the first time in a way that kinda does right to history. Like a cleansing for yourself and to your own mothers and grandmothers.” - Shishani

With artists:
Artists: Shishani - vocals, guitar, storytelling Tieka Masfar - spokenword Wulan Dumatubun - gamelan Tiga Batang Rumah - tifa drums Cherella Gessel - dance, storytelling Jomeicia Oosterwold - dance, storytelling Asih Nije-Sungkono - dance, pentjak silat (martial arts) Sabine Bolk - batik expert Sandra Sahupala - percussion Eveline Carels - drums Jaimie van Hek - bass

In 2021, Shishani founded Sisterhood: a collective female and non-binary artists who highlight a shared heritage between Indonesian islands, Moluccans and Namibia through the Dutch colonial past. This unique crew performs a mesmerizing show centering female & queer perspectives on marginalized voices through music, dance and storytelling. Shishani & Sisterhood dives into the various stories and art forms of Namibia, Java, Maluku and Surinam and create an artistic storytelling concert. By now, the collective has grown to 12 performers in total who join in various combinations for live performances. Their focus is creating a space where unheard stories, memories and the legacy of the colonial past are transformed into new shared narratives by connecting African, Asian and European descendants and working towards a collective healing.