GABAN at Yoyi! Care, Repair, Heal

GABAN at Yoyi! Care, Repair, Heal

3 screen video installation and live performance
Photo credits: Laura Fiorio

Written and directed by Brook Andrew, GABAN is a post-traumatic play that summons a number of interlinked stories concerning the mess of the colonial fall-out. Gaban is a Wiradjuri word that means ‘strange’ and it describes the disconcerting experience that is the museum for many First Nations and Indigenous peoples. The protagonists of GABAN are personifications of Powerful Objects – cultural objects retained in colonial collections – in dialogue with other characters who personify the institutional power of the museum. There are actions of amnesia, violence, repatriation and revenge in this story of re-awakening ancestral memories.

Shot in historically-loaded locations in Berlin including the Humboldt Forum and the Clärchens Ballhaus, this edition of GABAN is a video installation and was made in collaboration with an international collective of creatives, who all share a commitment to empowering the voices of Queer, Trans, Black, and Indigenous People of Colour.

The work was co-commissioned by the Gropius Bau and Campbelltown Arts Centre. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

CREW
Paschal Daantos Berry: Dramaturg
Gary Stewart: Video Editor
Mouna Assali: Videographer
Brook Andrew: Videographer
Cammack Lindsey: Sound
Layana Flachs: Make-Up and Costume
Cherie Schweitzer: Production Manager
Magnus Elias Rosengarten: Stage Manager

CAST
Aaron Reeder: MEMORY
Budi Miller: TREE
Dena Abay: EVIDENCE
Kameron Locke: PHOTO
Savanna Morgan: JUDGE
Joni Barnard: MASSACRE
Oumou Aidara: GUILT
Astan Meyer: GUIDE
Mohamed Boujarra: PUBLIC
Céline Rodrigues Monteiro: PUBLIC
Jota Ramos: PUBLIC
Black Pearl: PUBLIC
Marque-Lin: PUBLIC
Mmakgosi Kgabi: WITNESS
Kevin Bonono: MUSEUM

Yoyi! Care, Repair, Heal was curated by Brook Andrew, Kader Attia with Giscard Bouchotte, Natasha Ginwala, Bárbara Rodríguez Muñoz, under the curatorial lead of Stephanie Rosenthal in collaboration with SERAFINE1369, In House: Artist in Residence 2021

Gropius Bau Berlin
16 September 2022 – 15 January 2023