WORK IN PROGRESS – AFRICA IS IN THE FUTURE

Work in Progress (by Alphonse Eklou Uwantege (BE) + Martha Canga Antonio (BE) + Labdi Ommes (KE) + Natisa Exocé Kasongo (CO-GE) + Oulouy (CI+ES) + Eden Tinto Collins)

And what if emergence comes from looking; ‘emerging’ in whose eyes? in comparison to what? from where? What if we expected some people to emerge so that we could better observe them on the surface? And what if, in return, we expected some people to immerse themselves so that we could better observe the depths? Emergence is a shift in collective attention, but also in individual, intimate and sensitive narratives and forms, between the stage and those who occupy it and visit it. For this moment of presentation and encounter, we have invited six artists from different waves of emergence – their own & those of their environments. After presenting snippets of their work in progress, we’ll open a discussion on questions linked to their practices in a translocal dynamic.

REVELATION POST-KINETIC STAGNATION by Labdi is an African singer-songwriter and single-string violinist (Orutu) from Kenya. Her vision is to popularise the culture, sounds and instruments of African music and reintroduce them to the world. Labdi represents the growing population of young African artists who are learning to play indigenous instruments. By taking up the Orutu, she is currently the only woman to play this instrument, which in the past was reserved for men. Labdi experiments with indigenous Kenyan sounds such as Taarab, Ohangla, Mwomboko and Benga, as well as the music she grew up with in two major cities (Nairobi and Kisumu). In this audiovisual art performance, Labdi seeks to study the creative subconscious when it is awake – in stillness. This ties in with the fact that, in her musical practice, Ommes explores a musical instrument that is in many ways outdated, both mechanically and sonically, but is still culturally relevant. In this performance, she explores her internal conflict with this revelation and interpretation of creative stagnation, what others might call a creative block, as she argues that creativity flourishes in a paradigm facade. Labdi chooses to convey this idea by exploring her various tools of artistic communication, including production, weaving, light art, line work et le son.

HOLY by Martha Canga Antonio

Martha Canga Antonio is a Belgian-English multidisciplinary artist whose creative career spans music, film and theatre. Also known as Martha Da’ro, she uses her art to tell powerful stories, both personal and collective. She made her film debut with a role in the 2015 film Black, which won her the Best Actress award at the Ostend Film Festival. Her soft, commanding voice has set her apart in the music scene, where she explores various genres with her unique stage presence. In 2020 she released her EP Cheap Wine & Paris, and in 2023 her debut album PHILOPHOBIA. In the summer of 2023, Martha made her debut as a stage director, co-creating a musical performance at and with Decoratelier. Since then, she has been working with Vincent Focquet and Marie Umuhoza on a rewrite of the same piece.

The term ‘holy’ is defined as ‘dedicated or devoted to…’. – sacred forms becoming sacred spaces bringing together sacred encounters; Holy – working title. Through the search for these forms, a theatrical and musical experience takes shape. Within it, a sense of the sacred is created by & for a collective movement.

RESTES by Alphonse Eklou Uwantege

‘Remains’ is a ritual tribute to my uncle, Alphonse Kanimba, who died during the Tutsi genocide one day in April 1994. ‘Remains’ speaks of transmissions, of a mortuary heritage that we did not choose and that leaves its mark on the living. ‘It’s about the ‘remains’ of a first name, a story, a genocide, a trauma, a wandering soul that can’t find its way out. This solo is about origins and the family ties that carry us but sometimes become unbearable. ‘restes’ is a danced, spoken and whispered reflection on the dialogue with the ghosts that haunt us, on what we choose to reclaim or leave by the wayside, on the stories that are passed on to us in spite of ourselves. But where does this ‘us’ fit in? 27-year-old queer Sagittarius, born in Minsk to a Rwandan mother and Togolese father. Alphonse is a model, performer and director based in Brussels. Her work uses the body as a tool, writing as a weapon of resurrection, and performance as a political emergency. Her method is based on a desire to thwart the norms of representation and the link between spectators and performers by disrupting theatrical spaces. Her first solo, ‘restes’, is currently being created.

KONG by Oulouy

‘KONG is the new stage work by choreographer Oulouy, in which the celebrated Ivorian dancer Ordinateur embodies the figure of the silverback gorilla as a satire of the bestiality of the Western colonial gaze imposed on black African bodies. A piece in which images and words gain in strength, with which Oulouy reflects on the state, challenges and urgencies of the continent, interweaving humour, sensitivity and a masterly choreographic display.

Oulouy is one of the best-known figures on the international street dance scene. Born in Côte d’Ivoire and based in Barcelona for the last few decades, Oulouy combines his skills as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director with his teaching activities, giving master classes all over the world.

by Eden Tinto Collins

Eden Tinto Collins (born 1991) lives and works in Paris. She developed her visual arts practice at the École nationale supérieure d’arts de Paris-Cergy. As a hypermedia poet, she works collaboratively to explore notions of networks and interdependence, fictions and mythologies.

Her relational and noetic devices (linked to thought and the mind) are part of the spectrum of performance and experimental cinema. She has been nominated for the 24th Pernod Ricard Prize (2023). Jane Dark, a fictional character by Afrofuturist artist Eden Tinton Collins, delivers a hypnotic performance of dance and song, surrounded by her muses Michelle Tshibola and Patricia Badin. A powerful intergalactic journey with no regrets.

by Natisa Exocé

Exocé is a multidisciplinary Afrocentric artist: performer, dancer, model, visual artist and artistic director. He mainly performs alone, improvising and creating stories or transmitting a language to other creators. His dance style is experimental storytelling. He considers himself to be Afropean, having been born in Paris in 1995 to Congolese parents, so he has a dual culture. Marked by a history between two worlds, Exocé grew up in a very modest environment and understood very early on that through Art he could break down all barriers and reach out to the sensibilities of the people around him.

Meeting @ Globe Aroma → 13:00

Interested? Contact Gladys artforall@globearoma.be