Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast is a visual theatre performance, reflecting on the nature of colonialism, intergenerational trauma, loss, land, culture, and identity.
A performance giving creative expression to the descendants of the colonised. The performance does not consist of storytelling, but makes use of art to stage a discussion about the lives of colonialism.
Colonization is a crime. It’s a crime against humanity. It’s truly barbarous and it’s part of a past that we need to confront by apologizing to those against whom we committed these acts.
— Statement made by President Emanuel Macron in February 2017.
French colonialism refuses to admit that a genuine European can really fight side by side with the Algerian people.
— Frantz Fanon, A Dying Colonialism, 1959.
Performances
Tuesday 5 July, 7.30 – 9 pm
Wednesday 6 July, 7.30 – 9 pm
Thursday 7 July, 7.30 – 9 pm
Friday 8 July, 7.30 – 9 pm
Saturday 9 July, 7.30 – 9 pm
Ashis Nandy Room, IPCS, 78-80 Curzon Street, North Melbourne
Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast is a visual theatre performance, reflecting on the nature of colonialism, intergenerational trauma, loss, land, culture, and identity.
Whether in Australia or elsewhere in the global south, colonial powers have left long lasting marks on native populations and their descendants. Current research has sought to underscore the inheritance of such trauma passed down through the generations.
Through performance, Barbary Coast gives creative expression to the descendants of the colonised, opening space for dialogue. The performance does not consist of storytelling, it makes use of art to stage a discussion about the lives of colonialism.
Based on lived experience at the time of the colonisation of North Africa and Vietnam, the performance invites the audience to draw parallels with the truth of the country where we reside.
In January 2020, the French presidency stated that there was “no question of showing repentance” or of “presenting an apology” for France’s colonial past.
Concept and direction: Kaira Hachefa
Dramaturgy and director assistant: Karen Berger
Texts: Aouicha Hachefa
Performance by Kaira Hachefa & Anso Biguet
Puppet and set: Michael Conole
Calligraphy: Raafat Ishak
Sound design: David Joseph
Lighting design: Alex Bryce
KAIRA HACHEFA is a Naarm/Melbourne based and French-born performing artist, puppeteer, singer, Butoh dancer and theatre maker. She created Compagnie articulate, a puppet theatre company. In 2016 her focus shifted to Butoh and puppetry combined performances for broader audiences, after having worked with schools for many years. Kaira has performed nationally and internationally at festivals such as the renowned Festival de la Marionette in Charleville-Mézières in France. She’s performed across Asia, USA, and Europe, solo or as part of ensembles. In Australia, she has performed with numerous collectives and companies, including the Victorian Opera, IHOS opera laboratory, Blackhole Theatre, Barking Spider Visual Theatre, and the Environmental Performance Authority. She is currently developing Behind the Scenes, a performance about the exploitation of workers in the global south. She’ll be performing in The Last Lighthouse Keeper at Theatre Works in St Kilda in September.
IPCS Membership
The Institute of Postcolonial Studies (IPCS) os an independent public educational project. We interrogate colonial relations and their consequences in the past, present and future in Australia and globally.
If you are not yet a member, consider joining to support us.
We build collaborations, projects, and knowledge in support of new forms of sustainable coexistence.
We operate a lively hub where scholars, students, artists, activists and citizens come together to share practically engaged ideas for creating a better world.
Through creative research, performance, and discussions we aim to cultivate new relationships of shared responsibility and care—across communities and for the places we inhabit.
