Speaking Africa, Logobi: A German–Côte d’Ivoire Performing Arts Dialogue

Abstract

Contemporary cultural capitalism feeds on all that might hitherto have been outside the realm of trade—feelings, atmospheres, habits, patterns, traditions. This leads to a growing interest in cultural resource that would bring in locally, regionally, or even nationally specific artifacts. In the European context, Africa seems to have received special attention in this ongoing quest. The essay takes a close look at a recently developed artistic endeavour that suggests a different approach to contemporary performance within a transnational context. Neither about preservation of identities nor about postcolonia l discourse, the group Gintersdorfer/Klassen brings together German producers, Ivory Coast performers, high-culture recognition, and ‘Africa is the Future’ innuendos. In the group’s work, movement and meaning step beside the disenchanted modes of presentation of ‘Otherness’ often found in European arts circuits.