Afropolitan Berlin has a centuries-long history. However, Germany lags far behind the international discourse on Black identity. Whether it's about its own colonial past, the deeply inscribed patterns of racism in institutions and everyday life or the diversity of Black lifeworlds as a natural facet of German society - the need to catch up is immense. This is demonstrated by the recent regular feature debates, for example on the use of "blackface" on the theater stage or racist vocabulary in children's books.
Ballhaus Naunynstraße already intervened in the heated debate last season with regular discussion events. As a laboratory for strategies of rebellion against discrimination, the post-migrant theater in Kreuzberg offers a stage for translocal perspectives that are not yet taken for granted. But self-confident protagonists and artistic practices have long been here. High time for a Heimatfest!
After the summer break, the Ballhaus opens its doors under the artistic direction of Wagner Carvalho and Tunçay Kulaoğlu. The 2013/14 season introduces a new focus: For four weeks in late summer, the festival Black Lux - Ein Heimatfest aus Schwarzen Perspektiven occupies the postmig- rantic theater.
With international and German guest performances, a new in-house production and a wide-ranging supporting program, Black Lux creates a packed space for interdisciplinary exchange and brings together the latest international performance works with impulses from the German art scene for the first time. The artists are united by the border-crossing confrontation with their own identity, when language, physicality and configurations of gender are explored in creative resistance.
We present the German premieres of the dance/performance pieces by Cie Artincidence (Martinique/France) and Victor D'Olive (Brazil). Our first own premiere in the new season is the world premiere of Elizabeth Blonzen's piece Schwarz tragen, directed by Branwen Okpako. The choreographer Ricardo de Paula and the director Simone Dede Ayivi, both already known at the Ballhaus, will appear on our stage as performers.
However, the festival is not limited to the stage, but also creates multimedia spaces of association. Asoka Esuruoso curates the video installation Black Mirrors. Memory. Body. Identity. with works by Branwen Okpako, Jamika Ajalon, Sinethemba Twalo, Thabo Thindi, Juli(a) Rivera and Melody LaVerne Bettencourt. The sound installation Backstreet Voices Powertrip by Noah Sow makes the entire house vibrate. Deborah G. Moses-Sanks' photo series Community, On Common Ground traces the threads from which common identity is woven. In collaboration with the Initiative Schwarze Deutsche e.V., we are also presenting an interactive collective self-portrait: the exhibition Homestory Deutschland explores the active and conscious creative will of Black people in Germany from the early modern period to the present day.
We also cordially invite you to scenic readings and lectures, documentaries and short films, a concert with the rapper Amewu and an edition of our Kiez-Monatsschau. We are looking forward to an intensive festival month with inspiring exchanges on stage and in the late summer courtyard in Naunynstraße!