Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee

With Edition IX Bodies and Technologies (2022-2023) If I Can’t Dance tackles the complex and plural entanglements between bodies and technologies. This Radio Emma show stages a conversation between the If I Can’t Dance artistic team – Frédérique Bergholtz, Anik Fournier, Sara Giannini and Megan Hoetger – and research fellow Devika Chotoe who talk about their own entry points into this edition’s field of inquiry.

Readings, Music and conversations about other languages. With Rijksakademie residents Salim Bayri, Lungiswa Gqunta, Özgür Atlagan, and Bert Scholten. Hosted by Arif Kornweitz and Radna Rumping. Recorded on 31st of October 2019 at the Reading Room of the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten in Amsterdam.

“The hell started at about half past one on the morning of... the fourteenth of June” - (Nyelele & Drake, 1985) A broadcast of the sound piece on Gaborone, 1985 (2021, 3:38 min) marks the start of the residency of artist Kim Karabo Makin, who lives in Botswana and is one of four artists selected for a Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee radio residency during 2022. "on Gaborone, 1985 considers the June 14 raid on Gaborone by the South African Defence Force (SADF) as a traumatic turning point for Botswana’s creative development – resulting in the demise of Medu Art Ensemble overnight. Positioned centrally to my Master of Fine Art body of work – the doors of culture shall be opened (2021), on Gaborone, 1985 notably includes a Radio Botswana jingle interspliced with segments from the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s (SABC) Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Special Report, as well as then-President of Botswana Masire’s reaction to the raid, and South African 80s group Future’s song, Party Weekend (1985). The…

“I’ve probably inherited my mother’s exhaustion and my grandmother’s exhaustion...There’s such a thing as intergenerational debt – and it’s not just economic, it’s also energetic.” - Navild Acosta interviewed in Schon Magazine How can we think about notions of human ‘productivity’, sleep as a space for resistance, and the enduring power structures that permeate current ideas around work and rest? Bringing together Flavia Dzodan, Quinsy Gario, and Joy Mariama Smith, we’ll engage in conversations around the politicised and racialised structure of sleep inequality and rest, the impacts of 24/7 productivity, the productive body, and activism as it intersects with these systems. How can we talk about these questions in light of our present moment of enforced ‘rest’ for some and enforced work for others. How can we respond to the structures, fragilities, and failures of systems that are being made visible, now more than ever? Our guests speak from the perspective of their individual (and collective) practices…

A 3 part sound collage & audio-visual broadcast for Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee Duration: 25 minutes Production by Thabiso Keaikitse This broadcast marks the end of the residency of artist Kim Karabo Makin, who lives in Botswana and is one of four artists selected for a Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee radio residency during 2022. Artist statement by Kim Karabo Makin: An intertextual audio essay which endeavours to explore the transnational space that Medu Art Ensemble has occupied historically ‘in another South Africa’, with a focus on the route that connects Gaborone, Botswana and Amsterdam, the Netherlands (via Chicago). Satellite Activism notably traces the life and legacy of Medu Art Ensemble in contemporaneity, with a particular look at themes that connect the Culture and Resistance Festival and Symposium, 5 – 7 July 1982 in Gaborone, to the Culture in Another South Africa Conference, December 1987 in Amsterdam. Additionally, with particular reference to the Art Institute of Chicago publication The People Shall Govern!…

‘’ is an extended conversation hosted by Kim Karabo Makin along with artist friends and colleagues – Ann Gollifer and Thero Makepe, at the home of the Art Residency Centre in Gaborone, Botswana. The conversation unpacks Makin’s final outcome of her radio residency with Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee, a sound piece entitled Satellite Activism. In so doing, Makin engages a conversation with Gollifer in considering her practice as an archivist, as well as in unpacking the potential for an exploration of the archive as ‘living’, with specific regard to the strong presence of oral traditions in the context of Botswana. In addition, Makin engages Makepe in reflecting on the role of the DJ as an archivist of sorts, in curating the living archive. Furthermore, with a look at the cultural significance of radio in the local soundscape, the three collectively present the sort of intergenerational passing on of knowledge that Satellite Activism embraces. In considering the life and legacy of Medu Art Ensemble in and out of…

Barrel of the soul’s many inhabitants slurp alongside the stillness which slithers past the cries, and deep beyond the breath is that sensorial forgetfulness held by these walls. Recommended listening method: headphones, and a comfortable seat. Mikatsiu’s research during the Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee residency focused on remote sensing, consideration of the different communication abilities of dancing spiders, questioning what is needed to sense the detached regions of one’s own body, and tuning enunciation towards melodies as they unravel stories into perceivable frequencies.

In the audio essay 'Iconographies of Belonging' artist Endi Tupja maps out several coordinates and journeys that others misread, questioned or were simply not interested in. Albania, the country where Tupja was born and grew up, is described as a place of belonging and longing that is constantly questioned: ‘where are you from? Go back to your East’. New fractured identities are born as a result. Tupja crafts a rhythm of urgency, yet within a steady pace of clear forwardness and determination. Her voice will not stop until the threads have been revealed in all their entanglements.The artist navigates between factual descriptions and a guttural flow, where anger is allowed to flourish in new forms of tenderness. Anger about the impossibility to carve a space of discernment from outside projections, about white feminism that doesn’t live up to its good intentions, and anger about the tragic life of activist Adelina Sejdini, who was kidnapped from Albania and forced into prostitution in Italy. This audio piece…

“A collision with the past” is a year-long attempt at approaching the history of the Kalenderpanden, a former squat located in the East of Amsterdam. The squat was in operation between 1996 and 2000, and, after its eviction, it was turned into luxury lofts. The piece uses archive material that the squatters from that time made available: a documented timeline of both the squatting and the eviction. It also tries to touch upon how the practice of squatting changed in the past decades, since the 2010 squatting ban, and weaves in and out of how one can still get access to the Kalenderpanden building, two decades after. While putting together the piece, between November 2020 and November 2021, there has been a resurgence of squatting as a housing practice in Amsterdam, as well as nationwide. So with this in mind, the piece links the Kalenderpanden to the newly squatted Hotel Mokum as well as a building on Spuistraat 59 and one on Ringdijk 8, both squatted by the Anarcha Feminist Group Amsterdam. As if to say,…

The literary figure of the ekphrasis is a verbal description of a visual work of art. It has been part of literature and art discourse for centuries, and it has been crucial to the exhibition I saw it by ear, initiated by Muro Sur in Rozenstraat in Amsterdam. Discussions of ekphrasis always seem to produce fertile associations and repercussions when thinking about the crossed boundaries between art and literature, imagination, representation and the unfolding and reproducibility of certain knowledge. With Ilse van Rijn, Martín La Roche and Arif Kornweitz, this episode explores the history of the figure of ekphrasis, the traditional difference between poetry and painting (tradition of paragone), and how more recent poets and writers approach this categorical separation, to shed light on the exhibition I saw it by ear. Find a list of references mentioned in the show, and for further reading on our website www.jajajaneeneenee.com Also, this episodes contains two pieces of the vinyl record Écfrasis. These pieces…

This show was recorded and produced in collaboration with If I Can't Dance, I Don't Want To Be Part Of Your Revolution. It is part of the Radio Emma series by If I Can't Dance, and unpacks key terms from their research into Bodies and Technologies (the field of inquiry during 2022-23) with invited local guests from various disciplines and practices. You're welcome to join the broadcast live at If I Can't Dance in Amsterdam, Westerdok 606-608. Please arrive no later than 12.30, there's a free meal included. Taking pedagogical practices as a crucial site where bodies and technologies converge, Devika Chotoe has invited three guests to share their insight on what it means to queer pedagogy and vice versa: how to feature queerness as topic of pedagogy. Together they will touch upon the different initiatives Sorab Roustayar, Feargal Agard and Elioa Steffen initiated to foster queer teaching and knowledge creation, ranging from archival and performative practises to organising kink workshops and play parties.…

Amara Higuera is an artist and writer from Los Angeles (the ancestral and unceded land of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Chumash peoples). She is exploring histories of precarity, resilience, and (re)generation through lens based inquiry and sound. She is currently writing poetry and making sound works as a practice of personal exorcism and artistic research. This show consists of 3 episodes: Ch. 1 embodied search(ing) Ch. 2 embodied remembering Ch. 3 Lungs Don't Fail Me Now Amara Higuera, our artist in residency during the winter of 2023 presents the outcome of this period. In the words of the artist, “Estoy Llamando, Regresando Tu Llamada” is a three piece audio collection searching for what needs to be said. "If you're going to say it, can you say it here? Are your lungs strong and ready? Or more so, can you say it safely? I recall the suffocation you mentioned. Of that place where you can’t look at that, you can’t say that. But, let’s say that I did?" English translations: Title: “Estoy Llamando, Regresando…

From the Archives: Muro Sur Revisitado. Originally aired September 30th, 2022. Artists who have participated in Muro Sur, in its different stages, meet to talk in the kitchen of the loft where the project originated in Santiago de Chile. Together with Rodrigo Ríos Zunino from Radio Tsonami and next to the wall that gave birth to this initiative, they talk about their memories. Topics such as their past experiences with Muro Sur, the recording of their voices in ekphrasis, what has happened to them in recent times and towards which directions could artistic practice go in continuous contexts of crisis, appear in the conversation. The possibility of organizing around a politics of affection and friendship, as well as the contingency of Chile, the result of the new constitution’s referendum and the emotional landscape of this process are also themes that recur in this talk. Somehow, the typical organic conversations that characterize this project in its intimacy are shared publicly in this radio program. This…

From the Archives - originally recorded July 6, 2020. 15:00 06-07-2020 Writers Sabrine Ingabire and Munganyende Hélène Christelle speak to Rita Ouédraogo, about the [back then] soon-to-be-launched publication Being Imposed Upon - a timeless love letter and manual by and for black women, a collection of reflections on being a woman and being black in Belgium. Being Imposed Upon is a project initiated by Vesna Faassen en Lukas Verdijk. It unites non-fiction essays, literary reflections, poetry, activist and academic texts around black women's search for freedom. This book is a tribute to their elderly, heroes and sisters Read more about the book at Publieke Acties. Please note that the publication is in Dutch and French. Recorded in the exhibition WELKOM by Guy Woueté in de Brakke Grond. This show has been made possible with support from the Vermeylenfonds.

Channelling. Be a vehicle. A path. A hole. Go. Let go. Make way for something to happen. Something, the other. Be others. Guide. Make room and draw a line. Mark a step. Divide. Contain. Carry from one place to another. Create. A plan, a landscape, a spectrum, a call. 'Channelling' connects the medium of audio with other realms. Logistics, infrastructure, landscape transformation. As a practice, channelling takes many forms: tapping into otherwise unheard voices, an invocation, a form of transmission. In this online collective exhibition, three artists explore channelling through sound. Curated by Andrea González, with works by Laia Estruch, Anahit, and Ainhoa Hernández Escudero. Ainhoa Hernández Escudero's contribution to 'Channelling' is titled RAAAW. It is the first iteration of the project She Has A Message For You, which researches the phenomenon of spiritism that in the 19th century was an enabler for women and other excluded voices to be heard: a medium to speak through otherness, claiming a space of…

Channelling. Be a vehicle. A path. A hole. Go. Let go. Make way for something to happen. Something, the other. Be others. Guide. Make room and draw a line. Mark a step. Divide. Contain. Carry from one place to another. Create. A plan, a landscape, a spectrum, a call. 'Channelling' connects the medium of audio with other realms. Logistics, infrastructure, landscape transformation. As a practice, channelling takes many forms: tapping into otherwise unheard voices, an invocation, a form of transmission. In this online collective exhibition, three artists explore channelling through sound. Curated by Andrea González, with works by Laia Estruch, Anahit, and Ainhoa Hernández Escudero. 'Confirmers of the Present', 8min 41s 'RX_004_Tr1_Stereo to master' 5min 3s In these sound works, Anahit engages with two conflicting notions of channelling. The first refers to a contemporary need for hyper-presence in our synchronous society: an ever-flowing stream of sensory experiences generated by relentless synchronisations,…

Channelling. Be a vehicle. A path. A hole. Go. Let go. Make way for something to happen. Something, the other. Be others. Guide. Make room and draw a line. Mark a step. Divide. Contain. Carry from one place to another. Create. A plan, a landscape, a spectrum, a call. 'Channelling' connects the medium of audio with other realms. Logistics, infrastructure, landscape transformation. As a practice, channelling takes many forms: tapping into otherwise unheard voices, an invocation, a form of transmission. In this online collective exhibition, three artists explore channelling through sound. Curated by Andrea González, with works by Laia Estruch, Anahit, and Ainhoa Hernández Escudero. Channelling 1: Laia Estruch 31 October 19.00 jajajaneeneenee.com Reflexiones Impro Plato, 22 julio, 2022, 20 min 43s Reflexiones Copicat, 22 julio, 2022, 10 min 32s The voice and the body are the elements that structure Laia Estruch's research, an artistic practice situated between sculpture and performance. Laia Estruch conceives of…

Alec Mateo, our artist in residency during the spring of 2023 presents a 30 min audio piece as the outcome of this period. "Part of a perpetual negotiation with narrative, the 3rd or maybe 4th installment in the Gotchu performance series, this time recorded.For have thoughts on movement in transit to London. Anthony speaks to Abuelito. You watch lectures and cartoons, reminiscing. Your favorite part is in the middle. The story is ultimately about the stupor of sobriety, discipline, and adventure. These ideas are more complete in their text. One is the refuse of the other. Collage! ;)" For more information and shows visit our website:https://jajajaneeneenee.com/

For this year's Valentines day, we "literally" bring back from the dead the fourth episode of Elif Satanaya Özbay's and Andrea González Garrán's beloved "Vampires Can't Have Anything". In this episode "To Love Forever", they discuss the theme of Love, The Eternal Love, the Vampire Love refering to Film, Literature and other mediums of cultural . They will cover some iconic relationships, triangles, and lustful obsessions of and for their beloved creature of the dark, for half an hour. For all the other Episodes of the latest season, check out website www.jajajaneeneenee.com

“What does it take to create a culture where it is allowed to fall into the bottomless abyss of heartache?”, asks Raoni Muzho Saleh. This poetic contemplation is the literary equivalent of Raoni’s ceremonial gatherings, which he calls “Mourning Socialities”. Throughout this episode, Raoni contemplates on the power and significance of the moan as an expression of mourning and how this sound connects with the profound states of loss and suffering. Interrogating himself, the listener and the societies of which they are a part, Raoni explores these questions in monologue and through moaning. By braiding the moan into the fabric of his speech, Raoni invites listeners to come together in a polyphonic groan to experience the commonality of grief. This bemoaning contemplation calls for a renewed relationship with the body and embodiment, where grief and loss are not only approached mentally and rationally but also experienced and expressed physically. A transcript of the text is available here. Raoni Muzho Saleh is…

‘Laughter is the shortest distance between two people’, says Laraaji. In this Guided Laughter Release, he invites you to experiment with different kinds of therapeutic laughter: laughter to soften the heart, or to massage the belly. The episode takes the form of a session, in which Laraaji guides the listener through different exercises, accompanied by zither music. He advises practicing every morning for about 15 minutes. Such regular laughter, Laraaji shows, helps release stagnant and stale air, boosts the immune system and guides you to finding a connection to your own meditative inner state. Laraaji is a musician, mystic and laughter-meditation practitioner based in New York City, who plays piano, zither and mbira. His musical career includes over 50 releases: from the legendary Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980, a collaboration with Brian Eno) to the more recent Sun Piano and Moon Piano albums (2020, All Saints Records). Laraaji is the creator and facilitator of Laughter Meditation Workshops, sharing the…

Where to find inner stillness? How to perform not for human beings, but for space? Where do the sounds of celebration and grief intersect? These are some of the topics explored in this episode, where Laraaji, a musician and laughter practitioner, and Raoni Muzho Saleh, a choreographer and performer, discuss ‘the sonic experience of life’ with moderator Radna Rumping. The result is a lively intergenerational conversation on collective sounding as a healing practice. Laraaji is a musician, mystic and laughter-meditation practitioner based in New York City, who plays piano, zither and mbira. His musical career includes over 50 releases: from the legendary Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980, a collaboration with Brian Eno) to the more recent Sun Piano and Moon Piano albums (2020, All Saints Records). Laraaji is the creator and facilitator of Laughter Meditation Workshops, sharing the ‘seriously fun’ practice of heavy laughter as a transformative and ultimately healing tool for everyone. Raoni Muzho Saleh is a…

Andrea and Arif talk to Á. Birna Björnsdóttir, a visual artist interested in the uses of technology in our daily lives and the disparity between embodied experiences and factual knowledge. Birna has co-founded various artist-run platforms such as the residency and collective Laumulistasamsteypan, GSM exhibition space in frequencies and at7 project space. STUDIO is the Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee podcast, recorded at different art spaces and cultural institutions. This episode was recorded at fanfare in Amsterdam in 2022. Hosted by Arif Kornweitz and Andrea González. Recording and Production: Monty Mouw Post-production: Julius van IJperen Video documentation: Kyulim Kim Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee is a radio space for curatorial and artistic practices. We commission sound and performance pieces, related to the research strands we set for our annual programme. We also host and produce radio shows and podcasts, by and with artists and designers. Our mobile studio has been at academies, biennials and museums. In 2022, we…

A curatorial program set in a home furnishings and clothing store in Viseu, Portugal: Bruno Zhu talks to us about A Maior. Find the address and archive of A Maior here: https://amaiorviseu.tumblr.com This is the second of three STUDIO episodes in which we talk to artists that run curatorial platforms and artist initiatives about their projects, and the role they play in their own work. Bruno Zhu (b. 1991, Portugal) is an artist living and working between Amsterdam and Viseu. Ranging from fashion design, publishing and scenography Zhu’s practice is preoccupied with fiction and its manifestations. His work was recently shown at What Pipeline in Detroit (MI), Cordova in Barcelona and HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark in Graz. Zhu is a member of A Maior, a curatorial program set in a home furnishings and clothing store in Viseu, Portugal.http://www.brunozhu.com/home/ STUDIO is the Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee podcast, recorded at different art spaces and cultural institutions. This episode was recorded at fanfare in Amsterdam…

Andrea and Arif talk to Groaming, a roaming gallery in a backpack. This is the first of three STUDIO episodes in which we talk to artists that run curatorial platforms and artist initiatives about their projects, and the role they play in their own work. Groaming Gallery, a roaming gallery in a backpack. Anyone* can submit to showing their work in the gallery. It is carried around roughly between 75% to 90% of the time inside and outside the EU (if we’re lucky). Each resident has a month. With a couple of week showings throughout the year. PV locations are posted on the day and you can dm for location.Visit and submit to Groaming Gallery on Instagram:@groamingbaggallery STUDIO is the Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee podcast, recorded at different art spaces and cultural institutions. This episode was recorded at fanfare in Amsterdam in 2022. Hosted by Arif Kornweitz and Andrea GonzalezRecording and Production: Monty MouwPost-production: Julius van IJperenVideo documentation: Kyulim Kim Ja Ja Ja Nee Nee Nee is a radio…