i am an artist who works across multiple mediums, with a focus on the bod(ies) and Spirit as sites of political and social transformation. i see play, ritual and performance as a holy and dynamic triangle where meaning can be made and consciousness can be transformed.

i was born in durban, in 1990. growing up in the white suburbs of post-(ish)-apartheid south africa, my childhood-world revolved around intense ballet training and the christian religion. with time, over a series of rejections, ruptures and schisms, i now find myself creating from the foundations of an embodied and spiritual practice in order to address, re-frame and integrate my colonial settler lineage with a new (better) way of existing in the world.

my work revolves around cultivating sustainable anti-colonial ways of existence. through the practice of writing, performing, dancing, ritual-making, listening, talking, breathing, playing, loving and just trying to do life quite differently – i hope to enable meaningful transformation within the sel(ves) and the broader collective of people i live with. i am also very interested in finding tangible and effective ways for descendants of colonizers to joyously and humbly contribute to the dismantling of white supremacy, eurocentric logic and imperial structures. i’m also concerned with addressing collective psychic traumas (and inheritances) of what it meant/means to enact violences such as colonization, apartheid and genocide on this planet.

here are some keywords that may help locate the kinds of things i do / make / research / work with:

(dis)embodiment – dance – poem – song – ritual – performance – play – storytelling/writing – decoloniality – ancestors/descendants – archives – longterm slowmaking art – (s)experiments – friendships – magic – love.

for the astrologically inclined, i am an aquarius sun and moon, taurus rising. i appreciate the ‘they/them’ pronoun.

if you have questions or want to talk/work/think with me, please don’t hesitate to get in touch at nicola.van.straaten(at)gmail.com.