Onkruid takes as its starting point the four classical elements: fire, air, earth and water. It is an ode to ‘witches’: healers, people who use the forces of nature to restore health and who are and have so often been vilified. A performance as a collective prayer, a plea for love, freedom and Mother Earth.
The collective Wildgroei Coven examines the role of the spectator vis-à-vis the theatre and blurs the boundaries between theatre and ritual. The performance also questions how sisterhood can be practised in patriarchal contexts, particularly through an Afrocentric lens. Art is prayer!
Céline Gaza and Rose-Myrtha Vercammen: “We still see it even today in, for example, Congo – women who are branded as witches by grandsons or nephews and expelled from their community or village. Then their land is stolen. And yet it is these women who want to hold the community together, using herbal medicines. The title Onkruid – which translates as ‘Weeds’ - was chosen as a metaphor for this group, who are sometimes seen as ‘weeds’, the unwanted in society. What we are looking to do in our ritual performance is pay tribute to these women.”
“The piece is an ode to 'witches' and to sisterhood, fed by the wisdom of our ancestors.” - Rose-Myrtha Vercammen on the De Brakke Grond website, 24 mei 2024
by Céline Klara Gaza and Rose-Myrtha Vercammen Fortuna with Madiha Figuigui, Mathieu Charles, Joyce Yusuff, Léopold Gaza, Špela Tušar, Séraphine Boyeleba Balehen, Audrey Ikirezi and Ubukho Bethu part-financed by the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission coproduced by Brakke Grond Flemish Cultural Centre, Arenbergse Schouwburg, Anaku vzw supported by Batârd Festival, TransfoCollect vzw, GC De Kriekelaar, Beursschouwburg, WipCoop, Rataplan, Zinnema, Kuchukua Hatua vzw, Mindfulness by Céline and Beyza Taspinar
