Postcolonialism – A new Musical Oral History Performance

The after-effects of colonialism are deeply rooted in the daily lives of people all over the world. In Africa, local people continue to struggle with the challenges created by the former colonial powers.

How is it possible that Germany is one of the world’s leading exporters of chocolate, even though not a single cocoa tree grows in Germany? Why do white people in Namibia still own 70% of the land, even though they only make up 6% of the population? Why can European passport holders enter countries like Kenya without any problems? Why, on the other hand, is it so difficult for Kenyan citizens, for example, to obtain a visa for the European Union? And was the Libyan Muammar Gaddafi really a crazy dictator - or a champion against global inequality and exploitation? Or was he perhaps both?

Wangari and Kacirek are of the opinion that knowledge of post-colonial structures is absolutely necessary in order to understand today’s contexts. Especially when it comes to the causes of migration and economic inequality. And for that we need to change our perspective.
Wangari Grace, a Kenyan storyteller, and Sven Kacirek, a German musician, have already worked together on the musical storytelling performance “Colonialism - A Musical Oral History Performance For Children”: They make the human abyss of the colonial era palpable, but do not dwell on the chasm. They lead their audience into action and thus into a hopefully better future.
The performance has been shown at the Münchner Kammerspiele, HAU Berlin, the German UNESCO Commission in Nairobi, the Che Che bookshop in Nairobi and many other venues.
Now the two are continuing their collaboration on musical storytelling and taking the theme one step further. Because colonialism is not a ghost of the past. It continues today in post-colonial structures - and these need to be recognized.
This new performance will be shown in two different versions at the Münchner Kammerspiele. There is a version for children aged 8 and over in German and a more extensive version for adults in German and English.