Dekoloniale Festival 2024, Day 2: Music theatre piece by GROUP 50:50 at the Maxim Gorki Theater
On the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Africa Conference (also: »Congo Conference«) of 1884/85, the Dekoloniale Festival 2024, in cooperation with the Maxim Gorki Theater, presents the music theater piece Ecosystem by GROUP50:50.
If we save the rainforest, we save the climate! International environmental organizations have been using this slogan to justify their interventions in the equatorial forests for decades. In their new multimedia, transcontinental musical theater piece, GROUP50:50 tells the colonial history of deforestation and nature conservation in the Congo Basin and lets the voices of previously unheard affected people be heard.
After their Europe-wide acclaimed performance The Ghosts Are Returning, the group continues the equal collaboration between Congolese, German and Swiss artists: a musical plea for a decolonial ecology.
Prices: Regular: 12 – 40 Euro
Tickets can be purchased at the Maxim Gorki Theater box office or in the theater's online ticket shop .
About the piece ( https://fellow-berlin.de/proje... )
If we save the rainforest, we save the climate! International environmental organizations have been using this slogan to justify their interventions in the equatorial forests for decades. While the world's population is gradually understanding that it must take action against the deforestation of the forest in the Congo Basin because it binds large amounts of CO2, the local population is once again becoming a pawn in geopolitical interests. For ECOSYSTEM, GROUP50:50 travels to northeastern Congo and works with rainforest residents on a multimedia musical theater piece about an ecosystem that is falling apart.
The situation on the ground is complex: In order to preserve the overwhelming biodiversity, environmentalists are fighting against mining companies and timber exporters who mine gold and timber with the support of corrupt politicians. At the same time, international conservation experts are getting into bloody conflicts with local farmers who traditionally clear forests to farm. And then there are the people of the nomadic Mbuti people. They know the forest better than anyone else because they live off what it provides them. They are considered the "first inhabitants of the forest", and yet no one has yet recognized their right to the forest. They can only watch as their habitat disappears.
Together with local farmers and the Mbuti community in Bagoia, with whom they already worked on their last piece The Ghosts Are Returning, the performers and musicians of GROUP50:50 discuss and sing about what we have inherited from our ancestors and what we will leave to future generations. In dialogue with the traditional music of the region, they create a transnational ceremony, a ritual experiment on the importance of the forest for the fate of the world's population.
Credits
A production of GROUP50:50, in coproduction with Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig, Kaserne Basel and Centre d'Art Waza Lubumbashi, in collaboration with Caritas Wamba, the communities of Bagoia and Asandabo.
With the financial support of: Specialist Committee for Dance & Theater Basel-Stadt / Basel-Landschaft, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Cultural Foundation, Migros Culture Percentage, Southern Culture Fund, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Corymbo Foundation, Swiss Performers Foundation, GEA Waldviertler.
Artistic direction : Eva-Maria Bertschy, Joseph Kasau, Kojack Kossakamvwe, Elia Rediger
Musical direction : Kojack Kossakamvwe, Elia Rediger
Texts : Eva-Maria Bertschy, Jean-Baptiste Ekaka, Patrick Mudekereza, Joseph Kasau, Elia Rediger
Video : Joseph Kasau, Moritz von Dungern
Performance on stage : Jean-Baptiste Ekaka, Kojack Kossakamvwe, Elia Rediger, Dieu le Veut Sumba, Huguette Tolinga, (originally developed with Stany Kalanda)
Performance in the videos : Gérard Agbokabolo Amboko, Jean Kamana, Papa Delolai, Christophe Anzalite Amboko, Dauphin Kakuaguwe Wendokono, Maman Antoinette, Constant Delite, Sengele Charles, Michel Basekombonane, Jean-Maria Nangondese, Rose Ongane, Jean-Paul Ingbitina, Collethe Bombini, Jules Amboko, Jacques Modo, Mambunga Basekombonane, o, Adeline Baboanane, Julberthe Bibedu, Paulin Banyandey, Françoise Iday, Clementine Nengapeta, Micheline Iday, Jean-Pierre Bambabeya, Philiphe Bozi Marie, Nangaa Charline, Michel Thomo, Marie Akemande, Therese Monikomange, Bambanaye Abuty, Ndandambajaye, Jean-Pierre Monzabete, Anyabukiyuo, Jean-Pierre Bambakoanza, Adwakanakeya, Anthoinethe Abinya Kalite, Agbokabulo Mavambu, Jean-Marie Akemane, Raymond Kakeane, Clementhine Natho, Adwakanakeya Deineo
Costumes : Cédrick Nzolo, Janine Werthmann
Technical direction & lighting design : Sylvain Faye
Stage : Sylvain Faye, Elia Rediger
Sound design : Philipp Ruoff, Elia Rediger
Production : Camille Jamet, HERProductions, Isaac Yenga
Tour management : Luca Maier, Isaac Yenga
Administration : Corsin Gaudenz
Research : Jean de Dieu Aybeka
Assistant Director : Anna Melissa Zentgraf, Luca Maier
Internship : Fy Notahiana Harinofy Ramsoron
Press & Social Media : fellow publishing
Production : GROUP50:50
Co-produced by:
Residenz Schauspiel Leipzig, Kaserne Basel, Centre d'Art Waza Lubumbashi
In collaboration with:
Caritas Wamba, the communities of Bagoia and Asandabo.
Supported by :
Specialist Committee for Dance & Theater Basel-Stadt / Basel-Landschaft, Pro Helvetia, Southern Culture Fund, Migros Culture Percentage, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Corymbo Foundation, Swiss Performers Foundation, GEA Waldviertler.
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