The Ghosts are Returning
GROUP50:50 (Germany / D. R. Congo / Switzerland)
Coproduction of euro-scene Leipzig | In French, Swahili, Kibudu and Lingala with German surtitles
In THE GHOSTS ARE RETURNING, GROUP50:50, a collective of artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany remind us of the fate of seven Pygmy skeletons that a Swiss doctor brought to Geneva from Congo in 1952.
GROUP50:50 has started searching for the descendants in the Congolese equatorial forest, where the nomadic people of the Mbuti are being expelled due to illegal deforestation. Together with the Mbuti, while singing and dancing, they developed a ritual for the seven spirits – in the hope that they will then find peace. What is, however, often not considered in the debate for restitution: the spirits return with all the masks, skulls and skeletons that the Europeans stole and hid away during the colonial period.
GROUP50:50 tells stories about the historic and current economic and political interconnections between Africa and Europe, and demands the return of cultural inheritance and reparations for colonial crimes and current human rights infractions. It addresses the history of globalization, colonial domination over the African continent as well as neocolonial practices of exploitation of humans and nature to access natural resources. The collective also critically reflects the form of its own cooperation which is disturbed by historic economic inequalities, cultural misunderstandings and the fact that the means of production still come from Europe, since African countries rarely have budgets for culture.
www.podium-esslingen.de/prog/the-ghosts-are-returning
www.group5050.net/d-projekte/theghostsarereturning
Credits
Director Christiana Tabaro, Eva-Maria Bertschy, Michael Disanka, Elia Rediger Performers Ruth Kemna (viola + Performance), Christiana Tabaro (song + performance), Huguette Tolinga (percussion), Kojack Kossakamwve (guitar), Franck Moka (electronics + performance), Merveil Mukadi (bass), Elia Rediger (song + performance)
Composition + musical direction Kojack Kossakamwve, Elia Rediger Text Christiana Tabaro, Eva-Maria Bertschy, Michael Disanka, Patrick Mudekereza, Ruth Kemna, Elia Rediger Dramaturgy + discourse Eva-Maria Bertschy, Patrick Mudekereza Stage + props Elia Rediger, Christiana Tabaro, Michael Disanka, Janine Werthmann Assistant director Luca Maier Video Moritz von Dungern, Joseph Kasau, Franck Moka, Elia Rediger Sound Philipp Ruoff Technical director Sylvain Faye Technical assistant Anton Pelzer Sound + mixing stage videos Daniel Freitag Stage video director Beltrán González Press + social media Fellow Publishing (Johannes Fellmann, Leonie Soltys)
Podcast Denise Maheho, Franck Moka, Luca Maier Research staff Abé Jean de Dieu Aybeka, Benjamin Imply Ababa, Julienne (Caritas de Wamba), Olivier (Centre Universitaire de Wamba) Production management Pamina Rottok, Véronique Poverello Artistic direction PODIUM Esslingen Joosten Ellée
Production PODIUM Esslingen, GROUP50:50, Centre d’Art Waza Lubumbashi Coproduction CTM Festival Berlin, euro-scene Leipzig, Kaserne Basel, Vorarlberger Landestheater Supported by Fonds TURN2 der Kulturstiftung des Bundes – supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Fachausschuss Tanz & Theater BS/ BL, Stiftung Pro Helvetia
Main Supporters
euro-scene leipzig is institutionally supported by the City of Leipzig and the Saxon State Ministry for Higher Education, Culture and Tourism. Co-financed by tax revenue on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.