Gilo Koswal, what do you do in daily life and how did you end up in these organizations?
In daily life I am a unit manager at Tha Spot Jongerenplaza. Tha Spot is a work unit of the Stedelijk Jongerenwerk Amsterdam and is located in Amsterdam Zuidoost.
From a young age I have been a frequent visitor to Kwakoe. I have experienced the festival as a youngster and as an adult. In 2002 I approached the Kwakoe board to give more attention to the youngsters at the festival from the youth work. This has resulted in the youth island that has experienced strong growth within two years. And a programming that is mainly devised by youngsters, which meets the specific attention for the wishes of the youngsters.
At the end of the 28th edition of the Kwakoefestival I was approached by the board if I wanted to take a seat in the new management team. With pleasure and all honor I responded positively to this request and that has resulted in my current position within the festival as director of programming.
This year the Kwakoefestival has been expanded with a Beauty and lifestyle fair (BLB). What was the reason for this?
One of the new objectives of the management is to make the festival more attractive through programming. By this we mean not only fun and interesting performances, but also educational and informative moments. With the Beauty and Lifestyle Boulevard we try to pay more attention to the specific care of the appearance and interior of our visitors. It is our aim to put more emphasis on the Afro-European visitors when filling in the BLB. Incidentally, this does not mean that there can/will not be other providers, we acknowledge that there is still a lot to learn in the field of dark skin. And through the BLB we try to contribute to the improvement of this.
I also saw a workshop on the program: “How to deal with your own hair”. So there is also attention for frizzy hair?
Curly hair is, besides skin color, a clear recognition of a certain race. It emphasizes your origin. An origin that is linked to certain traditions, history and special features. A clearer answer to your question is "First there was curly hair, then culture".
I have spoken to several Surinamese men about frizzy hair and often they admit that they looked down on frizzy hair or didn't look at girls with frizzy hair, especially when they were younger. Why do you think this is?
I can't answer that. I don't share that experience. I'm also not saying that I was consciously looking for a girl with frizzy hair. I'm not so much guided by appearance. Nevertheless, I would like to know more about this, perhaps I was also such a boy unconsciously.
How did you used to think about frizzy hair and has your opinion changed over the years?
I didn't really think about it before. I do know that my two sisters had a nice Afro hairdo. That was during the Jackson Five era. We all had a certain Afro, by the way.
Do you know what relaxing is have you ever had it yourself? Or a texturizer or curly or something? If so how did you like it? If not why not?
Well, at some point you reach an age where you start experimenting and are influenced by all kinds of fashion trends. That's how I ended up in the Curly world. (Oh wait a minute, that's also because of Michael Jackson, and therefore because of one of my sisters because she played Jackson Five records all day long, which automatically got me into that scene, I'll point that out to her, hahaha). Back to the question, back then it was of course hip and cool, but I got wiser and am now happy with my natural look.
Have you ever had any negative/positive reactions regarding your hair?
I can still remember an incident. I think I was six or seven and was walking on Dam Square with my oldest sister. At one point an older woman with a child walked up to me and asked if they could stroke my hair, then she gave me 5 cents. This has always stayed with me.
What do you think of the website kroeshaar.com, do you have any suggestions or recommendations?
I think it is a very good initiative. I would like to advise to broaden the subject to the total care of dark skin. For this I would seek cooperation with those who are involved in various sub-areas of this subject. This will create a broader support base and solidarity. I would particularly like to emphasize the joint approach. There is already too much evidence within our community that we want to reinvent the wheel or operate as a “copycat”, while a good negotiation for cooperation yields much more results. I wish kroeshaar.com much success, wisdom and strength. These are the positive initiatives that we need.
I understand that you are still looking for participants who can help shape the BLB. What kind of people are you looking for and how can they get in touch with you?
Anyone who believes they possess information or a product that is good for the care of the, mainly, Afro-European individual can register. This can be done, among other things, by visiting our website www.Kwakoe.nl
Finally, do you have a message for the visitors of Kwakoe and participants of the carnival?
Those who know the history of the Kwakoe festival know how it started, in 2004 we can be proud of the level we are at now. The honor belongs to all predecessors who have contributed to the realization of the current status of the festival.
For the carnival that will take place the weekend after the Kwakoe festival, I refer to the website www.southeastcarnaval.nl
I invite everyone to visit the websites to stay informed about the new developments. Do not hesitate to visit the guestbooks and leave a message or advice.