Croquemort

Croquemort aka Didier Lalaye is a famous SLAM artist in Chad as well as a surgeon in his daily life. We participated in the SLAM festival he organized in N’Djamena: ‘N’djam s’enflamme en slam’. SLAM is a form of expression, musical poetry, poetry on melody. The words sing and flow into a blossoming rhyme that contains the critiques and emotions that are so much part of everyday life. It is a style that comes close to the ordinary person, it phrases experiences that may be horrific and therefore almost comic. There is no dance but there is rhythm, rhythm of words, turning into sentences, becoming a poem which composes a story for those who want to listen. SLAM is urban poetry and tries to bring poetry to ordinary people. Its messages deal with the realities of everyday. In Chad, since independence, these realities are defined by opposition and conflict. War and oppression colour life and translate into mal-governance and poverty.

His stay in the Netherlands in November 2014 were full of moments of exchange during concerts, classroom participation and the presentation of his work to academics. During the launch of the V4T project on 27 November 2014 (during LeidenGlobal Day) Croquemort gave his first Dutch performance.

Mirjam de Bruijn

Researcher in African Studies, Anthropology and history; Ethnographic fieldwork in Mali, Cameroon, Chad; PhD supervision; Teaching in master programmes at the University; Research and publication in Africa (Africa based centres); currently involved in research project on ICT, social change in Africa (www.mobileafricarevisited.wordpress.com); Coordination of research partnership with African institutes (CDP, Consortium for Development partnership, see CODESRIA, website); Director of Research masters African Studies, based in Leiden University and ASC till sept 2012 (www.ascleiden.nl); research grant, vici nwo, ICT and conflict (from sept 2012-2017), program title: ‘connecting in times of duress’.

Specialties: research coordination; research, ethnography; publication and research centres in Africa; teaching; ICT and conflict