This event is wheelchair accessible.
This event has induction loop.
DE, FR, EN, Lingala, Twi, Baoulé with German undertitlesFetching prices
Music Theatre
WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the west coast of Africa who, in times of political upheaval, skillfully assert themselves on global markets, navigate colonial structures, and defy stark inequalities. They meet two traveling salesmen who are seeking their fortune on the so-called “Gold Coast” on behalf of the Basel Trading Company. Together, they create a market for “African wax prints” – colorfully printed cotton fabrics developed by Dutch and Swiss textile companies by copying Indonesian patterns and printing techniques.
In their new musical theater piece, Bertschy and Kossakamvwe work with a truly transnational ensemble of artists from Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Switzerland. Inspired by traditional narrative forms and carried by a choir of three women, they create an expansive ballad about the centuries-old trade relations between the Swiss textile industry and its customers in West Africa, telling a piece of Swiss colonial history.
Please also note Experimental Runway & Fashion Show WAX THE CHURCH, WAX THE FUTURE, WAX THE RICH (GROUP50:50, WAX Collection -Kumasi, Accra, Basel, Berlin) on April 19
A GROUP50:50 production
Credits
Direction: Eva-Maria Bertschy
Musical direction and composition: Kojack Kossakamvwe
Text: Eva-Maria Bertschy and Edwige Dro
Stage design: Percy Nii Nortey
Costumes: Austin Nortey
Performers: Araba Dansowaa Agyare, Jahelle Bonee, Martina Momo Kunz, Kojack Kossakamvwe, and Jonathan Tshimbombo
In the videos: Albertine Elanga, Lois Gyebuah Nyamekye Addo
Dramaturgy: Luca Maier
Video and photos: Henry Nelson Dezousa and Kofi Amankwah
Lighting design and stage collaboration: Sylvain Faye
Assistant director: Olga Gubina
Production manager: Camille Florence Jamet
Tour manager: Luca Maier
Stage and costume production: Workshops of the Vorarlberger Landestheater
WAX TRADERS is a production by GROUP50:50. In co-production with the Vorarlberger Landestheater and Kaserne Basel.
Funded by: Fachausschuss Tanz & Theater Basel-Stadt / Basel-Landschaft, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council, Ernst Göhner Foundation, Landis & Gyr Foundation, and Anne-Marie Schindler Foundation.
With the support of: Oskar Hämmerle GmbH and HOH Hoferhecht Stickereien in Lustenau.
