Commun.e - Dorothée Munyaneza & Buhlebezwe Siwani
Dorothee Munyaneza & Buhlebezwe Siwani - Guherekeza
(Guherekeza means to accompany our departed ones. To bring them to that place of rest).
my dear friend Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala once told me ‘what we do is not a performance it’s a ceremony’
i cheat, a performance is not really a performance; it is communing
thinking about soil and flowers
i thought to myself about having dinner and asking people to sit
or begin a first part with food
flowers and fruits all come from the soil to which we return, whether through the violence of war, genocide, greed, corruption or natural circumstances
i keep thinking about abundance
how we are abundant, how alive we are. we are still here
Making people dine as we recite stories of abundance, of hunger, and as they eat it, the colors trigger something
the cloth would be soil then we would have flowers
we invite people to sit and eat as we go back and forth with these tales, lyrics, sounds that have some resonance
yes yes yes yes yes yes
absolutely
storytelling while people are eating food that may no longer be edible
thinking about colors
red
gold
like in most african countries’ flags
we could use specific flowers
flower arrangements on presidential tables
think of flowers and food like that
soil
a big table
how many people to sit at the table in a socially distanced way
what kind of food should we serve the cutlery should it shmanzy
and some sort of desert
food should be
either
very very european
or
super african
and maybe african flowers
i don’t know what your thoughts are
i have a couple of texts that i am thinking about
the national anthem
it was cut from what it was to include the language of afrikaans and english and that in itself becomes a problem because it speaks about how the settlers’ inherent in our culture
what do you feel like should be worn as well
i have been looking at food images from the continent and the african diaspora these images and gestures of food sharing
we don’t have time to cook it so we may have to buy it
there are restaurants where we could order african food
in noailles
but it might be tricky if they don’t know how to use their fingers to eat the food
we could put cutlery
eating with hands
i think that soil is a good idea and flowers
i know that some african flowers are really expensive the other day i went to a florist and found some flowers i grew up with and they were really expensive so i don’t know if they have the budget for that if we ask for many flowers
as for the table we could get a good enough size table and sit ten people around it
the rest just watch the people who might be eating, who want to eat or can’t eat
using hands
i was looking at the way the women were
using hands
we can incorporate
hands
a movement we do together while telling the story
time to cook small things that we eat together
nothing big
pounded yam with some ekushi
basically take away the cutlery or put the cutlery by the flowers
inside the soil so nobody can actually touch it
scent
smell
think about the budget for the costume
flowers are also representational
flowers that speak of happiness and also spark joy
think of a particular colored flower
colors are very significant and important
when it comes to joy
when it comes to the bereaved
we can get the flowers on our own
let’s go to sleep
the cutlery in the soil
food to eat with hands
flowers on our own
as for the costumes i have some things at home that i have used for other performances that i could bring along tomorrow for you to see if they inspire you in any way
have a wonderful evening
sleep well
Dorothée Munyaneza is a multidisciplinary Rwandan and British artist based in Marseille. Dorothée Munyaneza starts from reality to capture memory and the body, with music, song, dance and text.
In 2006, Dorothée Munyaneza met François Verret for Sans Retour. Dorothée Munyaneza has worked with artists such as Alain Mahé, Ko Murobushi, Stéphanie Coudert, Rachid Ouramdane, Maya Mihindou, Alain Buffard and Radouan Mriziga. In 2013, Dorothée Munyaneza founded her artistic company, Compagnie Kadidi. Dorothée Munyaneza is an Associate Artist of the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris and Théâtre de Chaillot.
Buhlebezwe Siwani was raised in Johannesburg, due to the nomadic nature of her upbringing she has also lived in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal. Siwani works predominantly in the medium of performance and installations, she includes photographic stills and videos of some performances. She uses the videos and the stills as a stand in for her body which is physically absent from the space. Siwani completed her BAFA at the Wits School of Arts in Johannesburg in 2011 and her MFA at the Michealis School of Fine Arts in 2015. She has exhibited at the Michaelis Galleries in Cape Town, Alexandra township, Commune 1, and Stevenson in Cape Town. Lives and works between Amsterdam and Cape Town.
Costumes : Stéphanie Coudert
Translation English to French : Zahra Tavassoli Zea
Videos © Margaux Vendassi
Subtitles - Mohammed Aitallah
Photography © Grégoire d’Ablon
© Architectes Rudy Ricciotti et Roland Carta / Mucem