DAMBUDZO
nora chipaumire
The New Yorker
With Dambudzo, Zimbabwean choreographer Nora Chipaumire opens up a hybrid space free of genres and classifications. Inspired by both the word “dambudzo” (“trouble” in Shona) and the work of her compatriot, the writer Dambudzo Marechera, she has conceptualised a composite work designed to flourish in unique spaces like Les Halles de Schaerbeek.
Paintings, sculptures, sounds, dance... all these forms of expression interact to recreate the bustling atmosphere of the shebeens, the underground bars of the townships of southern Africa. With no framework imposed and no division between artists and spectators, Dambudzo challenges colonial legacies and invites the public to let themselves be carried away by the beat. In this way, Nora Chipaumire brings to life an intense and liberating experience.
Concept & Creative Direction : nora chipaumire | Performers : nora chipaumire, Tatenda Chabarwa, tyroneisaacstuart, SoKo Jena, Beauty Katiji, Fatima Katiji, Jonathan, Kudakwashe Daniel, Mohamed Y. SHIKA | Music recordings : Bhundu Boys | Production Assistant : Kwadwo Owusu Ansah, Abigail Hutchinson, Johanna Rau, Catalina Wortmann | Film Production : Mieke Ulfig | Sound engineers : Vusumuzi Moyo, Kwamina Biney | Technical Director : Heidi Eckwall | Scenic Construction : Irene Pätzug Company | Management : Laetitia Tshombe, Amélie Gaulier | Booking & Distribution : ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann, Astrid Rostaing | Commission by Wiener Festwochen, Festival d’Automne à Paris, produced by nora chipaumire, developed in residency with Callie’s Berlin Funded by the Visual Arts Project Fund of the Goethe-Institut nora chipaumire inc. is supported by the Mellon Foundation. Concept, design, and creative direction by nora chipaumire. With nora chipaumire, Tatenda Chabarwa, Jonathan Kudakwashe Daniel, tyroneisaacstuart, SoKo Jena, Beauty Katiji, Fatima Katiji, Mohamed Y. SHIKA. Sound management by Kwamina Biney and Vusumuzi Moyo. Technical direction by Heidi Eckwall. Set construction by Irene Pätzug. Management by Laetitia Tshombe and Amélie Gaulier. Distribution by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann, Astrid Rostaing.
