WAX TRADERS Premiere
The new music theatre production by Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe at Voralberger Landestheater!
WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the African west coast, that skillfully navigate global markets in times of political upheaval, resisting against the massive inequalities of the colonial system. They meet two European tradesmen that work for the “Basel Trading Company” and seek their fortune on the “Gold coast”. Together the four characters create a market for the “African Wax Prints” – cotton fabrics with colourful print design, that Swiss and Dutch textile companies develop by copying Indonesian patterns and printing technique. Inspired by traditional storytelling, Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe create an extensive ballad about the trade relations between the Swiss textile industry and its customers in West Africa, that has existed since centuries.
WAX TRADERS Shows
The new music theatre production by Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe at Voralberger Landestheater!
WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the African west coast, that skillfully navigate global markets in times of political upheaval, resisting against the massive inequalities of the colonial system. They meet two European tradesmen that work for the “Basel Trading Company” and seek their fortune on the “Gold coast”. Together the four characters create a market for the “African Wax Prints” – cotton fabrics with colourful print design, that Swiss and Dutch textile companies develop by copying Indonesian patterns and printing technique. Inspired by traditional storytelling, Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe create an extensive ballad about the trade relations between the Swiss textile industry and its customers in West Africa, that has existed since centuries.
WAX TRADERS Shows
The new music theatre production by Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe at Kaserne Basel!
WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the African west coast, that skillfully navigate global markets in times of political upheaval, resisting against the massive inequalities of the colonial system. They meet two European tradesmen that work for the “Basel Trading Company” and seek their fortune on the “Gold coast”. Together the four characters create a market for the “African Wax Prints” – cotton fabrics with colourful print design, that Swiss and Dutch textile companies develop by copying Indonesian patterns and printing technique. Inspired by traditional storytelling, Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe create an extensive ballad about the trade relations between the Swiss textile industry and its customers in West Africa, that has existed since centuries.
WAX COLLECTION Experimental Fashion Show
Experimental Runway & Fashion Show of the WAX Collection (Kumasi, Accra, Basel, Berlin)
If patterns are narratives, what happens when we reprint them? The WAX Collection reads textiles as archives of global movements: from industrial reproduction in Europe to their reinterpretations in West Africa. The starting point for this show is the historical connection between Basel and Ghana—copied fabrics, shifted meanings, circulating power relations. WAX COLLECTION reverses this movement.
WAX TRADERS Shows
The new music theatre production by Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe at Voralberger Landestheater!
WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the African west coast, that skillfully navigate global markets in times of political upheaval, resisting against the massive inequalities of the colonial system. They meet two European tradesmen that work for the “Basel Trading Company” and seek their fortune on the “Gold coast”. Together the four characters create a market for the “African Wax Prints” – cotton fabrics with colourful print design, that Swiss and Dutch textile companies develop by copying Indonesian patterns and printing technique. Inspired by traditional storytelling, Eva-Maria Bertschy and Kojack Kossakamvwe create an extensive ballad about the trade relations between the Swiss textile industry and its customers in West Africa, that has existed since centuries.
ECOSYSTEM – Zug
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Bregenz
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Lausanne
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
The Time For Denial Is Over – Lausanne
DECOLONIAL ECOLOGY
26th of November // 18:30 - 22:00 // Théatre Vidy-Lausanne
ECOSYSTEM – Bern
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Aarau
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Berlin
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In „The Ghosts are Returning” erzählt die GROUP50:50, ein Kollektiv von Künstler*innen aus dem Kongo, der Schweiz und Deutschland die Geschichte von sieben „Pygmäen-Skeletten“, die ein Schweizer Arzt in den 50er Jahren aus dem im Kongo nach Genf brachte. Sie reisen in den äquatorialen Wald zum nomadischen Volk der Mbuti, das vom illegalen Holzeinschlag bedroht ist und aus den Wäldern vertrieben wird. Mit ihnen singend und tanzend entwickeln sie ein Ritual, mit dem die sieben Geister zu Ruhe kommen können. Es entsteht ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über (neo-)koloniale Verbrechen, über den Tod und das Trauern.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In „The Ghosts are Returning” erzählt die GROUP50:50, ein Kollektiv von Künstler*innen aus dem Kongo, der Schweiz und Deutschland die Geschichte von sieben „Pygmäen-Skeletten“, die ein Schweizer Arzt in den 50er Jahren aus dem im Kongo nach Genf brachte. Sie reisen in den äquatorialen Wald zum nomadischen Volk der Mbuti, das vom illegalen Holzeinschlag bedroht ist und aus den Wäldern vertrieben wird. Mit ihnen singend und tanzend entwickeln sie ein Ritual, mit dem die sieben Geister zu Ruhe kommen können. Es entsteht ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über (neo-)koloniale Verbrechen, über den Tod und das Trauern.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In „The Ghosts are Returning” erzählt die GROUP50:50, ein Kollektiv von Künstler*innen aus dem Kongo, der Schweiz und Deutschland die Geschichte von sieben „Pygmäen-Skeletten“, die ein Schweizer Arzt in den 50er Jahren aus dem im Kongo nach Genf brachte. Sie reisen in den äquatorialen Wald zum nomadischen Volk der Mbuti, das vom illegalen Holzeinschlag bedroht ist und aus den Wäldern vertrieben wird. Mit ihnen singend und tanzend entwickeln sie ein Ritual, mit dem die sieben Geister zu Ruhe kommen können. Es entsteht ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über (neo-)koloniale Verbrechen, über den Tod und das Trauern.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In „The Ghosts are Returning” erzählt die GROUP50:50, ein Kollektiv von Künstler*innen aus dem Kongo, der Schweiz und Deutschland die Geschichte von sieben „Pygmäen-Skeletten“, die ein Schweizer Arzt in den 50er Jahren aus dem im Kongo nach Genf brachte. Sie reisen in den äquatorialen Wald zum nomadischen Volk der Mbuti, das vom illegalen Holzeinschlag bedroht ist und aus den Wäldern vertrieben wird. Mit ihnen singend und tanzend entwickeln sie ein Ritual, mit dem die sieben Geister zu Ruhe kommen können. Es entsteht ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über (neo-)koloniale Verbrechen, über den Tod und das Trauern.
ECOSYSTEM – Shows
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Swiss Premiere
The artists of GROUP50:50 travel to equatorial forest in D. R. Congo and visit an Mbuti community to elaborate a multimedia music theatre piece – about geopolitics and a complex ecosystem slowly coming apart at the seams, about care and loss, about what we have inherited from previous generations and what we will leave to future ones.
ECOSYSTEM – Shows
Auf der UN-Klimakonferenz 2022 vereinbarte die D. R. Kongo als eine der drei größten Regenwaldstaaten der Erde eine Klimapartnerschaft. Während die Weltbevölkerung allmählich versteht, dass sie gegen die Abholzung des Waldes im Kongobecken vorgehen muss, weil er grosse Mengen CO2 bindet, wird die lokale Bevölkerung einmal mehr zum Spielball geopolitischer Interessen. Für ECOSYSTEM reist die GROUP50:50 in den Nordosten des Kongos und erarbeitet mit Bewohner:innen des Regenwaldes ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über ein Ökosystem, das aus den Fugen gerät.
ECOSYSTEM – PREMIERE
Auf der UN-Klimakonferenz 2022 vereinbarte die D. R. Kongo als eine der drei größten Regenwaldstaaten der Erde eine Klimapartnerschaft. Während die Weltbevölkerung allmählich versteht, dass sie gegen die Abholzung des Waldes im Kongobecken vorgehen muss, weil er grosse Mengen CO2 bindet, wird die lokale Bevölkerung einmal mehr zum Spielball geopolitischer Interessen. Für ECOSYSTEM reist die GROUP50:50 in den Nordosten des Kongos und erarbeitet mit Bewohner:innen des Regenwaldes ein multimediales Musiktheaterstück über ein Ökosystem, das aus den Fugen gerät.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Thursday, 10 November 2022 - Friday, 11 November 2022 at euro-scene Leipzig.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Thursday, 10 November 2022 - Friday, 11 November 2022 at euro-scene Leipzig.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Saturday, 28 January 2023 - Sunday, 29 January 2023 at CTM Festival Berlin.
The Time For Denial Is Over - Berlin
3. -4. Februar 2023 HAU2, 15h-18h > Details @ CTM Festival
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Thursday, 10 November 2022 - Friday, 11 November 2022 at euro-scene Leipzig.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Wednesday, 5 October 2022 - Saturday, 8 October 2022 at Vorarlberger Landestheater Bregenz.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Shows on Thursday, 29 September 2022 - Saturday, 1 October 2022 at Kaserne Basel.
The Ghosts Are Returning
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. Show on Sunday, 25 September 2022 at Theaterhaus Stuttgart.
The Ghosts Are Returning – PREMIERE
In "The Ghosts Are Returning", GROUP50:50 tells the story of seven "pygmy skeletons" that a Swiss doctor brought from the Congo to Geneva in the 1950s. The artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany travel to the equatorial forest to meet the nomadic Mbuti people who are threatened by illegal logging and driven out of their territories. Singing and dancing with them, they develop a ritual to allow the seven spirits to find rest. The result is a multimedia musical theater piece about (neo)colonial crimes, death and mourning. PREMIERE on Friday, 23 September 2022 at FFT Duesseldorf.