FROM HABIBI TO LYTSE POP, PIDGIN TAKES YOU ON A JOURNEY THROUGH LEEUWARDEN
Can you develop a new language for a city that reflects the diversity of its population? And how do you do this? Artist Ahilan Ratnamohan, a global citizen himself, took up the challenge, together with Leeuwarden residents. The result: Pidgin Leeuwarden has seen the light, with its own founders, a vocabulary and a performance. The language has something to say about the city residents, featuring their favourite words and indispensable sayings from their mother tongue, as well as the linguistic cross-pollination that takes place.
About the producers
Pidgin Leeuwarden is a project brought to you by Productiehuis Explore the North, the Afûk, Leeuwarden City of Literature and artist Ahilan Ratnamohan (from the Brussels artists collective ROBIN), and is supported by We the North via the Proeftuin Meertaligheid (Multilingualism Lab). In addition to the Leeuwarden Pidgin project, there are similar ones in Groningen and Zwolle.
Ahilan Ratnamohan is an Australian theatre maker of Sri Lankan descent who moved to Europe for his football career. When this went otherwise than expected, he decided to transform his experiences into theatrical performances. He has been living in Antwerp since 2012, where he is part of an artists collective called Brussels Kunstenaarscollectief ROBIN. His cross-disciplinary performances take place in both Europe and Australia. Themes which often recur in his work include sports, sport choreography, cinema and linguistics (language acquisition).