Storytelling nights: Performing (post)memory of Cape Verdean migration to Rotterdam

Abstract

The Cape Verdean community in Rotterdam (the third biggest Cape Verdean diaspora in the world) have left a clear imprint on Rotterdam’s culture especially in terms of music production. Recently, this cultural and historical legacy has been gaining more recognition. In the field of performing arts, which constitute a relevant aspect of the urban nightlife (when not impacted by the current COVID-19 restrictions), the stories of migration circulating among the community have inspired Dutch-Cape Verdean artists to create thought-provoking plays on diasporic identity negotiations and belonging. In this regard, two theatre storytelling pieces by second-generation Dutch-Cape Verdean female artists, Lena Évora’s Muziek en Verhalen uit Mijn Geboorteland (‘Music and stories from my homeland’) (2018) and Sonya Dias’s Het Verhaal van Mijn Moeder (‘The story of my mother’) (2017), engage with the notions of ‘home’ and ‘story’ in a particularly thought-provoking way, especially in what concerns night aesthetics. By close reading these two plays within the framework of Diaspora and Critical Archival Studies, this article aims to address how arts play a role in creating imaginary records of Cape Verdean migration history and contribute towards a more inclusive recognition of Rotterdam’s multicultural social texture and its nightlife.