No Serenity Here (inspired by the work of ntate Keorapetse Kgositsile)

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An omelette cannot be unscrambled. Not even the one prepared in the crucible of 19th century sordid European design.

When Europe cut up this continent into little pockets of its imperialist want and greed it was not for aesthetic reasons, nor was it in the service of any African interest, intent, or purpose.

When, then, did the brutality of imperialist appetite and aggression evolve into something of such ominous value to us that we torture, mutilate, butcher in ways hideous beyond the imagination, rape women, men, even children and infants for having woken up on what we now claim, with perverse possessiveness and territorial chauvinism, to be our side of the boundary that until only yesterday arrogantly defined where a piece of one European property ended and another began?

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This performance work is loosely based on the words of Ntate Kgosietsile Keorapetse, it reflects a conversation/exchange of struggle between two characters, one represented in the music and soundscape played by cellist and the choreography of a dancer (played by Aphiwe) who speaks with his body to communicate across space.

The dialogue between the two encompasses the tensions between notions of home and exile, foreign and native, self and other within the context of the historic and often violent migration between Africa and Europe.

The work represents a dichotomy of two different worlds engaged in a dialogue characterised by moments of misunderstanding, and discord, which are sometimes reconciled in moments of harmony between the sound of the cello and the actions of the dancer.

Performed in Helsingor, Denmark 2019

with Mohau, Aphiwe Livi and music by Lil Lacy