This week

At the same time, the ensemble has initiated a diverse festival programme consisting of two parts, the first of which will take place in the coming week in the form of theatre, lectures and talks, a workshop as well as music and films. The second part will be realised in September. All ensemble members are artists in residence at the Kunstverein and will be present at the events. We cordially invite you to this programme!

The festival programme kicks off with The Wake, performed live by The Living and the Dead Ensemble on Thursday 14 July at 8pm.

Thursday, July 14, 8 pm
The Wake
Theatre Play by The Living and the Dead Ensemble
With Mackenson Bijou, Rossi Jacques Casimir, Dieuvela Cherestal, James Desiris, Léonard Jean-Baptiste, Cynthia Maignan, Sophonie Maignan, Zakh Turin
[FR w. Ger. sub.]

The Wake is a theatre play and addresses the potential of the night as a space and time to meet in order to organize political struggles. In Haiti’s history, it was the night when the enslaved people came together outside their forced labour. In the ensemble’s realisation, it is a group of young people from Haiti and Europe who are engaged in political struggles at the moment of global crisis.

The ongoing project was developed by the ensemble during a residency at the Ateliers Medicis in the Parisian suburb of Clichy-Montfermeil in July 2019.

Friday, July 15
7 pm
Curator’s Tour
 
8.30 pm
Images / imagineries from Haïti
Lecture by Giscard Bouchotte
In conversation with Rossi Jacques Casimir and James Desiris
[EN]
 
Giscard Bouchotte is an independent curator, critic and social entrepreneur in Haiti. Among other things, he curated Haiti’s first pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011. In his lecture, he will address the lack of public art spaces in the Caribbean. Based on projects in Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Miami (USA) and Fort-de-France (Martinique), Bouchotte will talk about the creation of new mobile spaces through a reinterpretation of Rara as a counter-design to the commercialised carnival. He will also address the position of Vodou culture in Haiti as a popular culture of resistance. In dialogue with ensemble members Rossi Jacques Casimir and James Desiris, he will discuss possibilities of sharing art in public space in a direct way with the population and how Vodou communities can become space for diversity.
 
Giscard Bouchotte will be live from Haiti; Rossi Jacques Casimir and James Desiris will be on site. The talk will take place at the Badischer Kunstverein. 
 
Saturday, July 16
2–5 pm
Krik!? Krak! Krik!?
Workshop with The Living and the Dead Ensemble
& students of the State Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe
[EN, FR]
 
In the context of the exhibition LANJELIS, a long-term exchange between the members of the ensemble and local networks will be activated. This already began through a cooperation with the Intermedia Art course under the direction of Prof. Dr. Christina Griebel and resulted in the parallel presentation Krik!? Krak! with works by the students in the Vaulted Gallery.
In the context of the jointly conducted workshop, the discourse that has begun will now be opened up to everyone. Through drawing and performing, we will deal with the language of Haitian Creole and the question of (im)balance in the exchange between the Global South and the Global North.
 
Registration for the workshop by email to info@badischer-kunstverein.de
Or by phone at + 49 (0)721 28226

6 pm
Raranaval
Contemporary Rara in public space
Start: South-western end of the Schlosspark (corner of Schlossbezirk / Schlossplatz)
Optional: Meeting point Badischer Kunstverein at 5:50 pm
[EN, FR] 
 
The Living and the Dead Ensemble and a Rara Ensemble from Paris cordially invite you to participate in a foray through Karlsruhe. The contemporary interpretation of Haitian festival music forms the framework for short readings and performances with which the ensemble and other actors explore places in the city. Karlsruhe’s history, squares and buildings will be set in relation to historical persons, texts and poems from the ensemble’s artistic work.

The event begins at 6 pm at the south-western end of the Schlosspark (corner of Schlossbezirk / Schlossplatz). You are welcome to walk with us from the Badischer Kunstverein to the starting point at 5.50 pm.

8 pm
Freda by Gessica Généus
Film screening [FR w. English sub.], 92 min.
Followed by a talk with Dieuvela Cherestal and Cynthia Maignan
 
In Freda (2021), Haitian actress and filmmaker Gessica Généus tells the story of student Freda and her family, who live in precarious conditions and an everyday life marked by insecurity and violence in Port-au-Prince. The film accompanies the main characters as they individually deal with the ever-present question of whether or not to leave Haiti.

It is a story that explores the life of women in the patriarchal society in Haiti and exposes social and political grievances in this vibrant environment. Généus‘ now third film has received several nominations and awards. Following the screening, ensemble members Dieuvela Cherestal and Cynthia Maignan contextualise the script through their own experiences.

Dieuvela Cherestal and Cynthia Maignan will be on site. Film screening and talk will take place at the Badischer Kunstverein.

GUIDED TOURS 

Curator’s tour
Friday, July 15, 7 pm

Guided tours
Friday, August 12, 6 pm
Friday, September 2, 6 pm
Sunday, September 11, 3 pm