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“Whether it’s the blue of Caybonne or the blue of Savage, our uprising is victorious. » Choreographers Marlène Myrtil and Myriam Soulanges repeat this sentence dozens of times to an electronic background music. Cape Tropical. On the stage of the Church of the Incarnation, fluorescent blue contrasts with white curtains: blue bananas, blue liquid, futuristic blue costumes. “We had to find an aesthetic way to represent invisible molecules. So we came up with the idea of blue, which represents the toxicity of Képone, another name for Képone.” Chlordecone. But this color also represents our strength! The “savages” are the “uncolonizable” part of us. », sings the Guadeloupean dancer Myriam Soulanges.
Relationship between former colonies and former colonial guardians
In this dance performance with notes of Afrofuturism, the two artist The Chlordecone scandal and its consequences in Martinique and Guadeloupe were discussed. This pesticide was used in the Antilles from 1972 to 1993 and continued to be used in France, despite warnings from the World Health Organization and the suspension of its sale in 1990. However, its toxicity to humans and the environment has long been proven. According to scientists, this non-biodegradable substance could still poison the soils of the Antilles for 650 years. “We want to speak out because this scandal concerns all of us and is everyone’s business,” explains Myriam Soulanges. In the West Indies, people are happy that the issue has been resolved, but the topic remains very sensitive. Many people have loved ones who are sick or yes Death from Chlordecone. On the other hand, most viewers in France don’t even know about it. »
Highlighting the words of those we don’t listen to is also the goal of the artists behind the show I am Gaddafi. The play, which was also performed at the Chapelle du Verbe Incarnate (a theatre openly dedicated to the visibility of artists abroad), uses the image of the Libyan dictator as a pretext to express the accumulated resentments of people of African descent. The play thus highlights the almost incestuous relationship between the former colony and its former guardians. “The audience is very important because it is a show that goes deep into the heart,” said Serge Abatucci, a Martinican actor and co-director of the Guyanese company KS and CO. In my opinion, this The awareness of Pan-Africanism also leads to questions about a unified Caribbean. I want to make people think about these questions, so that they also wonder what France is, and what France is abroad. »
Transforming violence into poetry
Kathryn Foleyno-Cohen, Director say what, Proposed at the René Blanche Theater near Avignon, it also promotes dialogue and meeting with the public. The play uses a brilliant text by the French-Cameroonian director Léonora Miano, questioning the relationship between the West and Africa, Relationship with skin color. If the stage version lasts 1 hour and 20 minutes, there also exists a 40-minute “off the wall” format. “When I saw Leonora Miano’s text, I was mesmerized and eager to read it. share. Instead of waiting for people to come to the show, I decided to do the opposite and meet them where they are with a touring show,” said Catherine Vrignaud Cohen, who has Egyptian ancestry through her mother.
Since 2023, the play has toured prison centres, schools, gymnasiums, social centres. It is available in a condensed version with an additional 40 minutes of discussion with the public. “These words need to be heard. As children of the colonies, we have suffered so much violence. If we can’t solve anything with violence, we can solve a lot with poetry”, emphasises Guadeloupean actress Karin Pedourin. She read out this powerful text with both joy and concern and was pleasantly surprised by the public’s response: “He must Do not misunderstand what people are able to hear. These words nourish our intelligence and allow us to understand what we are going through. » On the set of The White Queen, the actress shared the stage with Estonian musician Triinu Tammsalu. “It made sense to have a white person opposite Karin, because just through the image we showed that dialogue is possible,” assures the director.
Celebrating illegal culture
For others, a decolonial approach involves returning to roots and celebrating cultures that have been colonized, delegitimized or even forgotten. Spanish was the invited language at this year’s In Festival, with colonial issues emerging from Latin America and spanning many of the works, in favor of global questioning. The Sea of Silence, Uruguayan artist Tamara Cubas propose A ritual performance in which seven women from Africa, Asia or Latin America perform a mix of languages, songs and traditional dance movements. These women – not actors – are daughters or granddaughters of indigenous peoples who embark on a journey back to their origins, questioning the forced displacement their families have experienced.
“For me, it’s the idea of ’polycrystalline silicon’, not ‘monocrystalline silicon’ that’s important,” the solar director said. Colonialism is the imposition of something unique on a whole group of different people. That’s why there are multiple bodies, languages, movements in my exhibition. That’s also why there’s an invocation of the female divinity in the middle of the work, for Showing multiculturalism. » However, this cultural celebration also has its own limitations. On stage, a Uruguayan woman finds herself forced to speak Spanish because the language and culture of her people have completely disappeared. “Uruguay is the only country in the world that no longer has a language or indigenous people. The last survivors were taken to the 1870 Paris International Exposition…” the director says with regret.
The show also celebrates the rich Aboriginal culture monologue Argentinian Tiziano Cruz. The first 45 minutes of the show took place in the streets of Avignon, with a large parade of dancing in traditional costumes and local music. The joy of this festive stroll was in direct conflict with the declaration read in the park. this The director himself: “For some, we are just a craft, a regional product, an exotic body, like something that tourists buy. (…) We live in a society that reminds us every day that some lives are more valuable than others. A piece of meat, something that can be consumed and/or exploited, that’s what we represent. This work, the second in an autobiographical trilogy, was born out of a tragic event: the death of his 18-year-old sister due to a medical malpractice. He then became aware of the discrimination suffered by the locals.
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The desire for justice also resonates with the practice of British choreographer Yinka Esi Graves. Disappearing Act.The dancer was born in London to a Ghanaian family of Jamaica recalls flamenco’s African roots and the invisible contribution of African culture to this art. “For us people of African descent, the best way to live is to be absent or incredible. In this show, I wanted to show how we play with this invisibility, how to be absent and present at the same time.” On stage, she referenced Miss Lala, a circus artist of African descent immortalized by Deja in the 19th century.Egypt century. “This work by Degas is almost an archival document, because black bodies were not usually represented at this time. I decided to bring Miss Lara back to life in order to play with the invisible. Today, artists of African descent are better represented, which is a positive development, but we need to open up possibilities.” Again plus. “
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