Ko’eyene: Today

The “Theaterformen” festival is an international theatre and dance festival staged in Braunschweig and Hannover. Its self-assigned task is to showcase less conventional perspectives, presented in a local context. Considering that the German theatre scene has given little attention to indigenous perspectives in the past, the upcoming edition of the festival in Braunschweig aims to focus on exactly this topic. The programme is being curated by the artist and art educator Naine Terena and the artist Denilson Baniwa in cooperation with the Latin America expert Jamille Pinheiro Dias. 

“Ko’eyene” is a concept of time held by the indigenous people of Terena in Brazil. Using this notion as its starting point, the festival adopts an understanding of time in which the past and present are inextricable from one another. In addition to the venues operated by the Staatstheater Braunschweig, the festival will be staging performances and installations in the surrounding parks and gardens. These outdoor venues share a connection to European colonial history, for example, by way of the historical trees growing in the Botanical Garden established by Duchess Augusta. In addition to pieces by Denilson Baniwa and Naine Terena, the festival will present new works on site by Gustavo Caboco (Brazil), Seba Calfuqueo (Chile), Brian Solomon (Canada) and Yacunã Tuxá (Brazil). On a hill in the middle of the park, indigenous Hip-Hop bands of the Mapuche, Wapichana, Qom, Sámi and Shipibo-Konibo peoples from Argentina, Brazil, Finland and Peru will perform music whose texts convey the realities of life and their political demands.  

Artistic director: Anna Mülter
Curators: Naine Terena, Dr. Jamille Pinheiro Dias, Denilson Baniwa
Artists: Gustavo Caboco, Seba Calfuqueo, Tiziano Cruz, Wihtner FaGo, Brisa Flow & Ian Wapichana, Émilie Monnet & Waira Nina, Eskina Qom, Brian Solomon, Yacunã Tuxá, Ailu Valle
Performances: Staatstheater Braunschweig/Theaterpark/Museumspark, Braunschweig: 13 – 23 Jun. 2024