ANEMOIA is the debut visual EP (extended playlist) by NIÑO DIVINO. A persona created by conceptual emerging artist Darwin Winklaar. Through the compilation of six songs from which all six of them will be represented in music films, he retells the story of his childhood memories and the domestic religious habits of the women who raised him. ANEMOIA represents nostalgia for a time never known. Acknowledging what happens behind closed doors; Aruba’s domestic realm and working class situation and the influence of machismo in the culture. And however detrimental that may be the empowerment encountered by embodying the feminine energy through queer representation.
This night NIÑO DIVINO will officially launch ‘ANEMOIA’ and take us on the journey of making the EP, celebrating the many nostalgic and untold stories that shape the Aruban reality. We will celebrate, ending the night with music from DJ ESSOVILLA!
More about ANEMOIA
ANEMOIA is an innovative representation of Aruba, an authentic take upon San Nicolaas, the district that raised NIÑO DIVINO and a complete embrace of the diverse heritage.
About the Maker
NIÑO DIVINO’s work is honest and personal, constantly practicing a vulnerable spell and a lonely dance between nostalgia and melancholia. Grasping feelings of strangers and making them his own. His childhood years are essential to his creative persona; a place he constantly revisits for inspiration, an altar for his offerings, an homage to all who have transformed and shaped him. Incarnating through an imaginative process the memories, feelings and cultural symbols of his upbringing. His mother Violeta is one of the main inspirations for his creative practice. NIÑO DIVINO constantly embodies rituals and family habits through his work as a way of honoring the female figures who shaped him. Fashion design has been a playground for him; he sees fashion as a lifestyle, finding technical defiance by using unconventional materials to construct his garments and therefore challenging the fashion industry and history to its maximum potential. Finding ways to orchestrate different visuals, meanings, elements and symbols into sounds that could be linked with his culture and folklore for his music.
About the Speakers
Natusha Croes creates and guides the process of cutting edge artistic productions, music and experiences. She is led by her intuitive and sensible body into a state of wonder, and curiosity towards the world that surrounds us. Engaging with nature in search for a true sense of identity and belonging. Through her brand CARICIA she aims as a performance & music artist to eco-sensorially ignite a state of remembrance. Bringing forth the poetry of connecting to our indigenous wisdom. Healing our relationship to the Land.
Ali Hector is a personal stylist based in Aruba. She founded Zhuzhed by Ali according to the belief that there is beauty to be found in everything. A long time ago, Ali learned that her closet, and yours, hold endless possibilities for any and every occasion as well as the power to change your life. Zhuzhed by Ali is about giving people the tools to discover this truth in their closet while developing their own personal style.
About the Moderator
Luis Anibal Villegas is a Venezuelan-Aruban journalist, artist-poet and jurist in training. Having grown up between cacti and arepas, his critical perspective was formed by his fight to become a citizen of the island where he grew up. He mostly focuses on migration, climate, and LGBTQ+ rights, as well as freedom of information and Kingdom relations. He is currently studying Dutch law in Amsterdam.
Hardcore activist kun je ze niet noemen, maar dat ze sociale verandering teweeg willen brengen is wel hun drijfveer. Hun raison d’être, bijna. Verandering vanaf de basis, welteverstaan. Deze Voices of Change gaan over hun eigen keuzevrijheid en beslissen zelf in wat voor wereld ze willen leven. “Ik wil juist het positieve belichten.”>>
Het afstudeerwerk van Darwin Winklaar ontging niemand tijdens de tentoonstelling van de Gerrit Rietveld Academie 2020. Tussen zes zorgvuldig geplaatste altaren en stoffen poppen, poetste de performancekunstenaar in een wit gewaad de vloer terwijl hij spreuken in Papiamento uitsprak. Zijn werk heeft een grote binding met zijn leven vóór de Rietveld, toen hij nog op Aruba woonde. Al leek daar in het begin van zijn tijd op de academie weinig ruimte voor >>.
Darwin Winklaar and Roxane Mbanga presented their first body of work during Amsterdam Fashion Week after their respective Lichting victory in 2020 and 2021, united by both’s questioning of their own identities, while reflecting on their heritage. The shows reflect their own idea of gender norms, as well as the way those are affected by their immediate environment.
Het idee dat hij had kúnnen winnen was niet eens bij hem opgekomen, zei hij zichtbaar ontroerd, maar Darwin Winklaar (26) werd dinsdagavond in de Hermitage toch de overweldigende winnaar van Lichting.
