Walt Disney’s film “The Jungle Book” (1967) and the 1894 book by Rudyard Kipling on which it is based are emblematic of Western imperialism, not only othering nature and animals, but also bearing colonial traces. This film by Broersen & Lukács, “I Wan’na Be Like You”, is named after the song of the same name from Disney’s film. A ghostly figure appears and seduces the viewer with a dance and a song reminiscent of the song from “The Jungle Book”. The scene is set in a dilapidated glasshouse, a composite of several Western botanical gardens, a place where ‘exotic’ nature is tamed and studied for the scientific needs of mankind. A place where plant and tree species from colonised countries are othered and externalised. After its song and dance, the ghostly creature disappears to make way for the avatars of the Dutch Afro-Surinamese music group Black Harmony. They walk towards the greenhouse and confidently sing “Na mi”, “I am”, in their native language—a song that is their version of the Disney song.
Biography
Margit Lukács and Persijn Broersen are an Amsterdam-based artist duo whose practice explores the intricate entanglements between nature, culture and technology. Their practice includes films, digital animations, and spatial installations that explore how media shapes perceptions of the natural and constructed worlds.
Graduates of Graphic Design at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, they went on to complete their MFA at the Sandberg Institute and were artists-in-residence at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. Broersen & Lukács’ artistic inquiry is rooted in a deep engagement with media theory, art history, and mythology. Drawing from cinematic, scientific, and historical sources, they reimagine landscapes and natural phenomena through digitally layered environments. Their work often reflects on the politics of representation and the appropriation of nature—reconfiguring dominant narratives through fragmented, multi-perspective storytelling.
Their installations and films have been widely shown at major institutions and international biennials, including the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (NL), Centre Pompidou (FR), FOAM (NL), MUHKA (BE), Centraal Museum (NL), MacKenzie Art Gallery (CA), WRO Biennale (PL), Biennale of Sydney (AU), Rencontres Internationales (HKW Berlin, Louvre and Grand Palais Paris), and Wuzhen Biennale (CN). In 2024, they represented the Netherlands at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. Their film I Wan’na Be Like You was nominated for the Tiger Award at IFFR 2024.
