La nouvelle pensée noire / New black thinking

A “chefferie” is a political/administrative body which existed in numerous countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in pre-colonial times and still operates today according to its own rules alongside state organisations. A chefferie which can mean a group of bosses – only top-level, no low-level – is also a vision which the performers in “La nouvelle pensée noire / New black thinking” strove to embody in their compositional and working methods. For this project, the artist duo Gintersdorfer/Klaßen expanded its existing German-Ivorian ensemble with ten new performers from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Based on the question “How does one create African identity?”, the performers explored various methods of portraying pan-Africanism and its present-day and historic interpretations – a debate which German audiences are largely unaware of. The performances addressed Western feminism and gender theories, as well as national governmental programmes and music, dance and fashion trends in Kinshasa, Kigali and Abidjan. The artists continually developed and refined the production at the four performance and rehearsal venues: Kinshasa, Kigali, Munich and Brussels. The project also published four editions of the journal “Heft der Akteure / Cahiers des acteurs” featuring essays and statements by the performers.

A project by Gintersdorfer/Klaßen with performers from the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda

Artistic directors: Gintersdorfer/Klaßen
With: Nadia Beugre, Thijs Bouwknegt, Patrick Boyoka (Dinozord), Gotta Depri, Ted Gaier (nur in Kigali ), Hauke Heumann, Herve Kimenyi, Pierette Mondako, Papy Mwiti, Michael Sengazi, Eric Parfait Francis Taregue alias Skelly, Franck Edmond Yao alias Gadoukou la Star

Schedule

16.–31.1.2014 - Ruanda, Kigali: Performances at the 2000 House and the Goethe-Institut in Kigali as well as presentation of the second edition of “Heft der Akteure” in the Café Karibu

15.05.–16.05.2014 HAU 2 Berlin, Performances

17.05.–18.05.2014 FFT Düsseldorf, Performances

21., 22. und 23.05.2014 Kampnagel Hamburg, Performances

24.05.2014 Pumpenhaus Münster, Performances

26.05.2014 Theater Bremen, Performances

Juli 2014 - RDC, Kinshasa: Performances and presentation of the third edition of “Heft der Akteure” at the festival Connexion Kin

15./16.11.2014 E-Werk Freiburg, Performances