Le Cargo

recorded at the CND 8 April 2011

Faustin Linyekula has spent the last ten years telling stories, stories of the Congo, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ex Zaire, ex Belgian Congo, beings and destinies shattered, assaulted, irreparably marked by the extreme history…

Yet how can we leave words aside if we want the memory of the body to speak? How can we leave travelling companions like Kabako, Vumi, Papa Rovinsky… aside if we want to come back to ourselves? How can we find dance again, or a certain, slightly romantic idea of dance, as it could be just before or after the words, just before or after the scream, just before or after the tale? On this route to oneself, Faustin Linyekula will take a train that no longer exists, whose rails have been swallowed up by the forest, he will go on a quest for dances that are no longer danced, forbidden by the god of miracles and of spiritual awakening, he will cross the path of a great master of percussion who no longer plays, who has become a pastor…

“If solo work hardly inspired me in spite of a few attempts that were quickly warded off, like the “Radio Okapi” project, where I invited artists every evening to accompany me or the performances of “Cargo” that were proposed these last few years in galleries and studios, it’s because my work was first and foremost a place for sharing and maybe even a place where one could be a little less alone… But, today, I have this great need to come back to myself. To bring out my first memories, return to Obilo, this little village at 80 kilometres from Kisangani where I would go with my sister in the train to meet up with my father. What’s left of my father’s house? After all these years of war, do the people still dance when night falls? Dances that, when I was a child, I was forbidden to take part in ? »

Updating: September 2011