This  is a face to face encounter of our own fear, trauma, vulnerability  and death. A project which traveled your mind through our existence and spiritual journey through space.

An alternation of my performance "EnU va DZinYE [ I'm possessed ]" performed in Ghana. The two pieces  connote me dying in Ghana and resurrecting in the Netherlands. Knowing that my absence will be felt in my home country for a period of 2 years and then travelling to a county and an environment which is new to me.  

We are travelers and inhabitants from our individual roots leaving traces of our habitats  on earth and that which paved our way into the unknown.   

Martin incorporated cadaveric spasm for which he got stuck in between a wall saving as a bridge between two portals. A way of teleporting between spaces, an idea influenced by the tradition  of his people. In his hand is a headset with recorded poem/sound travelling your mind in a meditational journey and at the same time seeking the assistance of the audience to complete his journey which usher him into a new environment. 

Two and half hour performance at Rijksakademie, Amsterdam the Netherlands.

A durational performance about death, an investigation in the mortality of our individual being and our experience in life as a struggle to survive. Death is experienced differently by all living and it is difficult to contain and talk about in our society as it is usually morbid. Some experience it as trauma, pain, stress, fear and unforgettable memories of their past. Generated from the tragic  concept of suicide in our soceties, l hange myself buried in a pyramid. Judging by individual encounters  of my audience who serve as participants at the four corners of the pyramid, 'a circle to circum'.

Driven by the stress of life, trauma ,shame ,fears with solitude immersed in dilemma striving to end it all with the hanging rope on my neck but trapped in a wooden structure (mini kiosk). Just like misery, but what if it is a path to a new relief from all which hunt my soul. Sorry to  leave you in sorrow for I have to end it like this, it's heavy I can't hold it any more.  Why don't you rather follow me to feel connected again in a meditational journey to search and explore the spiritual journey of the body and soul.

 Solo exhibition at Kumasi Ghana.

How do we envisage the world of the dead ( dolurrh ) in relation to our culture, religious beliefs and our individual differences. Questioning the traces of my existence,  interaction with time and space in the physical world and how this translates my  transition into the spirit world. 

An installation of multiple door frames creating a tunnel-like path leading you to an enclosed space with a door created in the form of a coffin (made of mirror)  ushering you to a new experience. Where you discover a lifeless body of Martin in agony suspended a meter  above ground in a glamorous gown made of empty matchboxes. Creating a tension of fear, in a dilemma of escaping the moment but trapped in the gaze of trauma, regret, confusion and mixed-feelings you're captured by death. A moment triggered by time and the present replaced by the past ,in this moment you become suspended in a new timeframe. The suspending body is released after a period of time initiating a dance and a lamenting movement of the body as the last energy to travel home. The performance is to commemorate my birth which always reminds me of my death as time passes.

NYAME Dua is a collaboration between Martin Toloku and Kwame Brenya as an interdisciplinary manifestation of spoken word, wood carving and traditional rituals in performance, inspired by the tree called "Nyame dua".

It investigates the notion of reincarnation, a new generation influenced by time, culture and our inner connections with nature. When dead materials begin to animate onto life, they communicate and begin to interact with its immediate environment. And a silent moment revealing an obscured dialogue trapped between time.

Nyame in his spoken words break down our being, the knowledge around our connection with nature and interaction with the universe we find ourselves in. Also Performing rituals that call for the initiation of a new god hence evoking the birth of Martin. Surviving through the belly of a dead wood (dolurrh) carving to a new world. 

crazinisT artisT studiO, Kumasi Ghana.