Faustin Linyekula / Studios Kabako
Citing the Nigerian singer Fela Kui as well as the Chinese poet Meng Jiao, working with as much commitment in the simplicity of a Kisangani courtyard as in the hushed comfort of the Comédie-Française, Faustin Linyekula is an artist with many references and experiences. His creations however all stem from the tragic history and complex reality of his country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the former Belgian Congo, the former Zaire. A country that he had to leave, due to political unrest, for a few years for Kenya, where he founded, with Opiyo Okach and Afrah Tenambergen, the first contemporary dance company of Nairobi. The idea of returning then became obvious - first to Kinshasa, where he created Studios Kabako in 2001, then to Kisangani, where he transferred them in 2006. This was a genuine life choice. Because Studios Kabako are not only Faustin Linyekula's show production structure but also a project for this north-eastern part of the DRC where he was born and where the question today for him is to set up a cultural centre and develop his training and support activities for young Congolese artists. Faustin Linyekula knows the importance of encounters, which have very much shaped his work, since he regularly associates his projects with artists from different disciplines, intentionally crossing his practice as a choreographic author with the theatre, music, literature or even the plastic arts. He was discovered at the Festival d'Avignon in 2007 with Dinozord: The Dialogue Series III and The Festival of Lies, then, in 2010, with To Put an End to Berenice.
RB, April 2013.