Collective Amnesia, an anthology of poems published in 2017, is a questioning of South Africa’s history, an examination of patriarchy, racism, and gender-based violence – and it took Koleka Putuma on an international reading tour. With her latest work Hullo, Bu-bye, Koko, Come In, the young poet reacts to success and reflects on her position as a Black artist in White institutions, asking: ‘Why are you always hijacking our narratives with your gaze?’ With their powerful language, her texts examine the precarious proximity of hyper-visibility and disappearance, being swallowed up when one’s voice is hijacked and bought: ‘europe asks if it can touch my hair / backspace / europe touches my hair’. Together with artists from Cape Town, Putuma creates a musical-performative reading of her new poems for the Wiener Festwochen, radically questioning the points of view between audience and performers.
Text Koleka Putuma With music by Nomakrestu Xakatugaga With Koleka Putuma, Nomakrestu Xakathugaga Projection design Inka Kendzia
A commission and a production by Wiener Festwochen
Premiere September 2021, Wiener Festwochen
brut nordwest
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
accessible
accessible
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)
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Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)
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