The ATD Lectorate is very pleased to announce that Dwayne Toemere is joining our team as a researcher from the start of this school year.
Dwayne is an actor and theatre maker. He graduated from the Mime School in 2011. In 2006 Dwayne got his masters degree in Psychology at the UvA with a specialization in Organizational and Industrial Psychology (A&O).
Ever since he has worked as an independent theatre maker and in collaboration with different theatre companies. Next to his theatre work Dwayne started teaching from 2013 in different theatre schools with a specialization in physical theatre and mime corporel, a technique developed by Etienne Decroux. He also works as a trainer for different companies (commercial and governmental) for personal development and communication training.
His research interests are in:
- Indigenous artist practices and the history and culture of indigenous communities.
- Mourning and the ways to make space for mourning practices and to heal.
- Diversity, Inclusion and Equality: ways to look at and to work on decolonization within the arts and within the education system.
In June and July 2024 Dwayne organized four sessions at Het Verbond (Amsterdam) in collaboration with theatre makers José Montoya and Erwin Boschmans as part of his research. The themes of these session were:
- Afrofuturism: creating new worlds and new works of art from a non-western perspective.
- A conversation with Surinam-indigenous artist Victor Bottenbley: exploring ways to integrate indigenous knowledge and culture into art and Western life.
- A workshop with Winti priestess Marian Markelo on grief practices within Winti-religion.
- A recap of the three sessions: what they discovered, rediscovered and learned. Honoring the past, honoring ancestors, dealing with the present and its difficulties and building on a future as theater makers of color.
On the 7th of July Dwayne organized a fashion show together with Stichting Wasjikwa: ‘Celebrating Indigenous Knowledge’. In this fashion show they presented their Surinam-indigenous clothing designs. This happening was a combination of activism, sharing of indigenous culture, community building and honoring ancestors. Together with 11 designers, 20 models, a Sambura-band and delicious Surinam food they made it into a valuable, important and relevant show.
Towards the show they organized several master classes to broaden their clothing and jewelry making skills and techniques and to exchange knowledge. They also organized master classes in theater and performance.
Dwayne's practice and questions resonate beautifully with the Lectorate's interests in decolonization, social justice and Indigenous knowledges and with our research program line on the role of the arts in responding to grief and loss. We are honored and excited to welcome Dwayne to our research group.
Read more information about the ATD Lectorate on this webpage.
