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TWO MEN AND A CELLO – Ghana and Nigeria 2003
Matthias Hermann Ibach & Philippe Olza
The Dadaist choreography TWO MEN AND A CELLO takes place in various venues in East Africa. Full of curiosity the two take over the space, which they re-present, to the spectators to be discovered anew. The show seeks to observe and inhabit the space so as to reveal to the spectators the parts usually concealed to the ordinary eye. An encounter between audience, space and the two performers all connected by references to the Italian, German, French and English language tradition.
The stay in Africa enabled us to develop this project and to perform in Accra (Ghana) e.g.:
• at the Alliance Française
• in the Swiss school
Further performances took place under the auspices of the UNESCO programme Culture in the Neighbourhood, which is concerned with Afro-European Interaction: e.g.
• in the Town Old Port, an area traditionally populated by fishermen, in the shadow of James Fort prison where Culture in the Neighbourhood has encouraged the construction of a school, a library and a training workshop for the repair of fishing nets. Here dance, music and theatre are a central element in social activity.
• in Pokuase in the palace of the village chief Nii Otto Kwame III
• in Nungua (workshop with the dance-music Kunsun ensemble)
• in Bubiashie (working class area)
The Swiss painter and video artist Robert Suermondt (Geneva-Brussels) accompanied and documented the artists' stay in Ghana. His camera recorded the relationships that developed between the two artists and the local population and their surroundings. In addition Suermondt also worked with Super 8 in a second series, which makes suggestive reference to the visual language, which he employs in his painting. Suermondt is continuing a film sequence, which has brought him to New York, Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Syria and Egypt. He focuses on local conditions in urban and rural environments and the manner in which they have accommodated current aspects of "civilisation".
In Nigeria TWO MEN AND A CELLO performed at
• Dance Meets Danse Festival in the Maison de France in Lagos (part financed by the A.F.A.A. Association Française d’Action Artistique). Together with local artists Olza and Ibach created and performed an intercultural programme.
Further performances were organised by the Embassy of Switzerland in Abuja:
• in the town of Ibadan (in the Nbari Nbayo Recreation Centre)
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at the court of King Oba Matami Oyewole in Oshogbo
• in the capital Abuja (at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, the Shell Compound Club House and in the American, French and German schools)
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