Experience with Stroomversneller: Mirthe Dokter - Strandbroeders

During the Arnhem Uitnacht, Mirthe Dokter (an Arnhem-based visual artist and music theater creator) presented an exhibition of drawings, photographs, overhead projections, and film footage telling the story of a Ghanaian sea turtle conservation team she had been following in West Africa over the past two years. She shared the material she had gathered exclusively at the Arnhem Uitnacht. This exhibition presents a travelogue about perseverance, climate change, and the power of a sea turtle.

Beach Brothers

Thanks to Stroomversneller , she Stroomversneller undertake her second research trip in November 2019, which resulted in a wide range of photographs and video footage. In 2020 and 2021, she developed this into an alternative documentary and exhibition, which premiered at the Arnhem Uitnacht. Through this project, she aims to raise awareness of West Africa as a forgotten region of the world, using the story of the migrating leatherback sea turtle as a connecting thread. She tells the story of the Ghanaian sea turtle conservation team she met in a small fishing village there. She promised them she would share their story after spending many nights walking with them during their beach patrols.

By sharing this story within the scientific community and the cultural sector, she hopes to make West Africa part of the global conversation on conservation and to draw people’s attention to what is happening south of the Sahara. Mirthe is currently collaborating with marine ecologist Dr. Marjolijn Christianen (WUR) to develop a final format that is applicable in both the scientific and cultural sectors and can be used in West Africa/Ghana for educational purposes. They are working on a format that uses storytelling to create a narrative incorporating both scientific data and personal accounts. In this way, they aim to develop a format that can bridge gaps in data collection regarding migratory species. They present this narrative in an alternative documentary that charts the migratory sea turtle through the eyes of Marjolijn and Mirthe. They hope to complete this project in 2021. The Stroomversneller the initial impetus for this project.

You can find more information about Mirthe Dokter here.

About Stroomversneller

Stroomversneller a grant program that supports new initiatives in their artistic development by giving them room to experiment. The goal is to help these initiatives gain momentum in an accessible way, without too many restrictions or obligations.

Click here for more information about Stroomversneller.