PAPAYA (2019-2023)
Transmuting physical, disciplinary, and ideological boundaries PAPAYA mixed dance, text, sound, installation, textile, and performance art.
PAPAYA's soundtrack (2023)
collaborators: Laure Rousset Constans; Estelle Depris; Jihan Imago et Antonia Ganeto; Meriem Abaied; Helder Da Graca; Sym Mendez & Samiir Saunders; Dwain Daley; Nyasha Daley; charl vinz; Japhet Dinganga & Lina Damoah; Leave It To Esmie restaurant; John Tiernan; Russells Garden Centre; Andrew Fletcher
Spiritual Care Coordinator: Sym MendezWell-being specialist : Karen Dhlamini; BSL interpreters: Deborah McLeod & Lorrain Gregory from BSL Interpreters of Colour Network; Chorégraphie et oeil extérieur : Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro; Création lumières : Nina Schaeffer; Scénographie & documentation : Shade Cumini; Chargée de production : Léa Wiplier - BEAST Production; Production : FINKAPE asbl ; Coproduction : Centre Culturel KULTURFABRIK; Partners: TROIS C-L - Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois; photographers: Black Magic Tea, Ayesha Jones, Shade Cumini
Jennifer Lopes Santos, dancer, and costume designer (LU); Eric G. Foy, musician and composer (BE); and myself, performance artist, writer, and curator led PAPAYA which was an Afro-feminist and activist initiative.
We made performances, workshops, and imagined gatherings investigating Black liberation, intimacy, and tenderness. Across borders the collective asked: how to create, nurture, and share conditions for (self)love beyond anti-Blackness? Through live performances we attempted to raise questions from our respective autobiographical standpoints.
funding: Ministère de la Culture (LU), Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte (LU), SACEM Luxembourg (LU), FrEsch 2022 (LU), TROIS C-L - Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois (LU), Warwick Arts Centre (UK), Coventry Biennial (UK), Coventry UK City of Culture Trust (UK)
