History of Her Voice

''As a collaboration between Nianiba and the Kunstinstituut Melly, we are pleased to invite you to ‘History of Her Voice’; a space to share and reflect on the aesthetics and sonic trajectories of Caribbean Carnivals, focusing on the Baby Doll masquerade.''

This event will take place on Saturday 7th of June at Kunstinstituut Melly. It will be hosted by Amanda T. McIntyre (2025 Nieuwe Instituut/Tilting Axis Fellow) and Adama Keïta (Curator and Researcher). Participants will explore how masquerades respond to the socio-politics of the times in which they are performed, and how they become vestiges of their environments. We will examine the connections between masquerades, Carnivals, and protest cultures of the Caribbean. Finally, we will reflect on how these resonate through the womxn focused advocacy and activism in diasporas.

About the hosts

Adama Keïta is an Indo-Guadeloupean, Martinican, and Senegalese curator, writer, and researcher. She is based in Amsterdam, finalizing a Master's in Critical Studies at Sandberg Instituut. Her thesis explores Martinican ( nation language ) as a tool for liberation, focusing on sonic/somatic practices and linguistic cannibalism. She is the Founding Director of Nianiba, a Martinique-based cultural-research lab. Under Nianiba, Keïta curates SIANO, a multidimensional program on Caribbean sonorities. She’s also a guest teacher at the fine art school of Paris, for Julien Creuzet’s students and since 2025 a member of the international committee of the Black Civilization Museum in Dakar ( Senegal )

Amanda T. McIntyre is a Trinidadian writer, artist, and scholar. She is the 2025 Nieuwe Instituut/Tilting Axis Fellow. Her project, ‘Present Continuous’, explores Caribbean architectural and sartorial cultures towards developing a sustainable practice of archiving contemporary Caribbean masquerades. She is the Creative Director and Principal Designer at the Dolly Mas Visual and Performing Arts Company. She was previously Art Administrator at New Local Space (NLS), Jamaica. In 2020 McIntyre was part of the faculty for La Pràctica Artists Residency. McIntyre is a postgraduate in Cultural Studies (practice-based, Visual Art) at the University of the West Indies.

Date: Saturday June 7th 2025
Time: 14:00 - 16:00
Location: (MELLY Cantina) Kunstinstituut Melly, Witte de Withstraat 50 Rotterdam