Artistic Direction (concept, choreography, text & performance): Yuck Miranda 

Dance & Performance: João Felisberto Armando (Jotta), Hélio Arnaldo Massingue (Riri), Yuck Miranda

Music: Mbalango (live music arrangements & performance), FONCÉ / OKRA Collective (electronic soundscapes production)

Video & Installation: Akwasi Glenn Asumadu / OKRA Collective

Costumes: Daniela Coelho

Light & technical direction: tba.

Production & diffusion management: Andrea Grossenbacher

Coproduction partners: Festival Belluard Bollwerk, Kaserne Basel

Financial support: Fachausschuss BL/BS (logos: http://bs.ch/pd/kultur/logos-abteilung-kultur )

Coproducers: Kaserne Basel & Festival Belluard Bollwerk

Other partners: Centro Cultural Franco Moçambicano, Cultiv’arte, Frankfurt LAB, Basler Afrika Bibliographien & Centre for African Studies, University of Basel ; Ulayo - Plataforma Queer, GALA Queer Archive

Yuck Miranda (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of theater, dance, and performance. With a background in theater, they merge dramaturgy, choreography, and movement research to craft immersive works that interrogate queerness, migration, and decolonial histories. Their artistic practice is deeply rooted in archival exploration, using storytelling and embodiment to reclaim erased narratives—particularly those of Mozambican queer experiences. Drawing from theatrical structures, they integrate spoken word, installation, and sound to create performances that challenge dominant narratives and reimagine cultural identities. Their politically charged, interdisciplinary works navigate themes of exclusion, intimacy, and resistance, exploring how the body becomes a site of both resistance and transformation.

Akwasi Glenn Asumadu is a visual artist, filmmaker, writer, DJ, and cultural worker based in Basel. His work bridges themes of Black diasporic identity and culture, poetics of Black fugitivity, ecological consciousness and experimental storytelling. His practice moves through historical archives, tracing the ways colonial and imperial thought shape social norms and structures, and attending to how Black communities continuously navigate, resist, and reconfigure these forms of domination. Akwasi is intent on crafting alternative, experimental modes of storytelling that honor Black interiority, imagination, and everyday acts of refusal. Akwasi is one of the founding members of OKRA, a collective of Black multidisciplinary artists based in Basel that was founded in 2020 and has since reclaimed and redefined space for Black artists within the Swiss music and cultural landscape. Akwasi earned a BA in Process Design from the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW in 2021 and has since contributed to numerous projects across the fields of art and culture.

FONCÉ is a multidisciplinary artist and organizer based in Basel. Their creative expressions mirror their processes of Becoming by weaving together different artistic mediums such as writing, sound production, DJing and curating. At the core of FONCÉs practices are storytelling and re_membering. They are interested in re_writing and re_assembling embodied narratives while drawing knowledge from their lived experiences. FONCÉ has been a member of OKRA Collective since 2020 and is currently part of the curatorial team of wildwuchs festival for its upcoming edition. They hold a bachelor’s degree in Process Design from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. As a DJ, FONCÉ has played at established events nationally and internationally. They have contributed Radio mixes for NTS Radio, Oroko Radio, Reform Radio, Mutant Radio, Radio X and Radio Bollwerk.

Mbalango (he/him) is a Mozambican artist whose work spans music, instrument making, and performance. Born in Maputo in 1986, he graduated from the National School of Music and

moves between Maputo and Lisbon.  A master mbira player and composer, Mbalango performs primarily as a solo artist. His appearances include the Tambouriland Festival (Lisbon, 2017), Poetas de Alma (Maputo, 2019), Motherland Festival (2024), Andanças (Portugal, 2023), Ntwala Oh Yeah! (Luanda, 2023), and solo concerts at the Guimarães Rosa Institute in Praia, Cape Verde (2025). Since 2015, he has also been part of Waka Mbira, a collective dedicated to crafting traditional instruments. In 2024, he joined the group Mbadezami, performing at Lisbon’s Mistura Festival. Currently, he is part of the Lusofonias project of the organization Chamadarte.. Since 2021, he has worked with Hotel Europa on Eastern Love and Luta Armada (2024–2025), where he appears as both actor and musician.

João Felisberto Armando - Jotta (he/him) is a Mozambican dancer trained in Mozambican traditional dances, theatre and contemporary dance. This background inspires his unique dance style, which is versatile and captivating, and incorporates emotion as much as physical expression. Jotta is currently a dance student at ISARC (Instituto Superior de Artes e Cultura), in Maputo/Mozambique. He has also trained with and been part of productions by esteemed choreographers such as Yuck Miranda, Pak Ndjamena, Osvaldo Passirivo, Virgílio Sitole, Cassimiro Nhussi, Cândida Mata, Abel Fumo, and Emelva Dine. Additionally, he is an active member of the cultural association Raízes, where he immerses himself in both traditional and contemporary movement styles. These experiences have shaped his approach to dance as a fusion of tradition and innovation, pushing him to explore new forms of expression. Beyond performance, Jotta has engaged in socio-educational dance initiatives, using movement as a tool for storytelling and awareness.  

Hélio Arnaldo - Riri (he/him) is a professional dancer working across traditional, modern, and contemporary dance. He has participated in a range of national projects in Mozambique, including festivals and community-based initiatives, as well as international exchange projects such as Erasmus+ through his university and partner cultural organizations. He completed formal dance training at university and has since performed at festivals including the Batuque Festival, as well as in projects connected to the queer cultural scene in Mozambique, such as “Queer Scenes” by Yuck Miranda. He was also selected as an emerging trainee with the National Song and Dance Company of Mozambique. Alongside his performance work, Hélio is active as a dance teacher, teaching traditional, modern, and contemporary dance at institutions such as Kukhina Mozambique, Artgo Academy, and DanSartes. Riri continues to develop his practice through ongoing professional training programs, including Mugangueni International Dance Training and Pérola’s Dance, where he also works as a choreography assistant. He is currently conducting research for his academic thesis in dance.

Andrea Grossenbacher (she/her) is a cultural producer and artist manager in the performing arts who is committed to socially impactful projects that shift narratives and challenge norms. Her academic background in peace, conflict, and development studies underpins her current work at the intersection of art and social transformation. With experience on and behind the stage, Andrea considers the practical realities of the industry and the broader structural questions that shape artistic visibility, access, and agency.  She has experience in production, diffusion, international collaboration and dialogue facilitation. Currently, Andrea supports the careers and projects of Anna Chiedza Spörri (Switzerland), Lenna Bahule and Yuck Miranda (both Mozambique). 

Nudity, darkness, loud voices

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