Threads of Resilience | Workshop | Exploring Black Lives Matter Protest Performance – a collective reading of The Interrogation of Sandra Bland

Organised by Oyoun

With Mojisola Adebayo

Theatre artist, playwright and academic, Mojisola Adebayo, will briefly share about some of the artistic / activist work she has been making over the past 30 years and invite you to be part of that work, through a collective reading of the Black Lives Matter protest play, performance, memorial and ritual entitled, The Interrogation of Sandra Bland. This verbatim play is based on a transcript of the dashcam recording of the unjust arrest of Sandra Bland in Texas in 2013, which led to her untimely death in Police custody. The play was first performed at Bush Theatre, London and Goodman Theatre Chicago, by over 100 Black women and women of colour. This collective reading, which has the blessing of Sandra Bland's family, will be followed by a short discussion. 

Tickets: Donation-based
Registration: no registration needed, first come first served
Language: English
Room: R1: Galerie Lameck

Biography

Mojisola Adebayo is a Black British performer, playwright, director, producer, workshop leader and teacher of Nigerian (Yoruba) and Danish origin.

Trained in Theatre of the Oppressed and Physical Theatre, Mojisola has worked internationally in theater, television and radio for over twenty-five years, from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. Mojisola has been teaching in academia since 1998, mainly at Goldsmiths, University of London, Department of Theatre and Performance. During her fellowship at the University of Potsdam between 2020 and 2022, she undertook research on ‘White Climate: Afriquia Theatre Literatures and Agri/cultural Practices’.

Her latest play, Family Tree, is a play, a performance, a ritual, about human farming, farming humans, soil and the soul, seeds and cells. The piece is inspired by the life of Henrietta Lacks and explores the relationship between extraction from Black women’s bodies, extractive capitalism, environmental racism and climate justice.

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This event is part of the Threads of Resilience Festival

Given the current situation and urgency to express, we decided to co-organise a community-led and collectively curated 3-day festival “Threads of Resilience” from 14-16 December at Oyoun.Those include a press conference, bazaar, panels, film screening, talks, exhibition, workshops, concerts, healing session, theater, puppet show for children, and parties. With this festival, we want to reflect on and learn from movements of resistance, resilience, and solidarity across the world and come together for three days of ephemerality and collaborative archiving. We want to address and speak out against repression, silencing, instrumentalisation, and division. We need to continue to empower, promote, and celebrate pluralistic perspectives from, with, and intersectionally marginalised communities.Admission is based on free donation (nobody will be denied entry if they cannot donate). All proceeds will be given to organizations in support of victims of racist police violence and to organizations giving legal support to people threatened with deportation.

Accessibility:

Oyoun is constantly working to make access to all events offered in the building as barrier-free as possible. For this event a simultaneous DGS (German Sign Language) translation has been organised. Our team can guide you to the designated seating area. For individual information on accessibility, please send us an email to access(at)oyoun.de. We will get back to you as soon as possible. More info on this topic here.

Awareness:

At Oyoun there is no place for sexism, queerphobia, transphobia, any form of racism or discrimination such as anti-Black, anti-Muslim racism or antisemitism. The same applies to any kind of violent, aggressive or assaultive behaviour. Oyoun provides an open forum for dialogue and a place where we support and stand up for each other. If someone or something bothers you during an event, please contact a member of our staff who is there to help you! If you would like to share an experience with us after an event, please email us or send us an anonymous message through our website.