AFROVIBES THURSDAY / XL

From October 3rd to 5th, the 21st edition of the Afrovibes Festival will take place at the Maaspodium, featuring theater, dance, performance, and fashion from and about Africa. The central theme Africa is not a country emphasizes the diversity and complexity of the African continent, recognizing the unique characteristics of each region. This year, the focus is on North Africa.

The North African region is often seen as part of the Arab world rather than the African continent. This raises questions about identity and connectedness, fitting within the festival's 2024 theme: Belonging.

A ticket gives you access to both performances and the side programming each day. After the performances, there will be an artistic talk, and to conclude the evening, there will be a DJ.

Hullo, Bu-Bye, Koko, Come In is a multimedia stage adaptation of Koleka Putuma's (South Africa) poetry collection of the same name. During the performance, images and phrases of queer black artists stream into the theatre space from speakers and projectors. Putuma turns herself into a projection screen and plays with the names, memories and legacies of black women made (in)visible in art and society. In a dialogue between past and present, she reflects on her success and position as a black artist in white institutions from the question 'Why are you always hijacking our narratives with your gaze?' Fusing sound, visual design and projection mapping, she creates a multimedia performance of her poems for the stage, radically questioning the relationship between audience and performers.

SUBJECT TO is a solo performance by Moroccan choreographer Medhi Dahkan about the changing nature of expectations - the twists and turns of desires and their complex interaction with time. This 'silent' performance asks fundamental questions about an individual's drives to dream about elsewhere.

SUBJECT TO is inspired by the Tanjawi ritual of Europe-watching: people of different ages gather at the highest point of the city of Tangier - where they sit lost in thought, facing the sea - and stare at Europe for a long time, often without saying a word. Dahkan wonders whether change is an inevitable outcome, regardless of whether we take steps towards our desires.

Trigger warning: the use of candles / candle wax in SUBJECT TO can be interpreted as self-harm.