A Film Screening and Discussion led by Eva-Maria Bertschy
Join us at G.A.S. Lagos on February 7th for Ecosystems by GROUP50:50, a film screening and discussion exploring the complexities of environmental conservation in the Congo Basin, led by current resident Eva-Maria Bertschy. The short film, produced by Congolese filmmakers Joseph K. Kasau and Franck Moka, offers a visual entry point into ECOSYSTEM, a larger multimedia music theater project by GROUP50:50 - a collective of artists from Congo, Switzerland and Germany, with a production structure in Basel, Berlin and Lubumbashi that realizes and produces transnational artistic cooperation projects.
The ECOSYSTEM project examines the complex realities of rainforest conservation in the Congo Basin, where global climate efforts often clash with local livelihoods. While international organizations push for deforestation prevention to combat climate change, mining companies, timber exporters, and corrupt politicians continue exploiting the forest, creating tensions with environmental activists and local farmers. At the heart of this struggle are the Mbuti people, Indigenous forest dwellers who rely on the land for survival but are denied formal rights to it. In collaboration with the Mbuti community in Bagoia and local farmers, GROUP50:50 developed a multimedia music theater piece that explores the past, present, and future of the rainforest through performance, song, and ritual. The project acts as a transnational ceremony, connecting traditional music with contemporary artistic expression to reflect on what we inherit from our ancestors and what we leave for future generations.
The discussion portion of the evening will feature Eva-Maria and Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo, a Nigerian journalist and cultural archivist. Together, they will explore the project's collaborative approach, engage with audience questions, and discuss ideas surrounding decolonial ecology.
Event Details
Date: 7th February, 2025
Time: 4:30pm - 6:30pm
Location: 9b, Hakeem Dickson Drive, off TF Kuboye Road, Oniru, Lagos.
This event is free however spaces are limited therefore it is essential to rsvp to secure your spot.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Eva-Maria Bertschy
Eva-Maria Bertschy born in Düdingen, Switzerland, in 1982, is a freelance dramaturg, director and playwright. Since 2012, she has conceived and realised international theatre and documentary film projects with the Swiss director Milo Rau and the IIPM. At the same time, she regularly worked with the Berlin-based director Ersan Mondtag. In 2021, she co-founded GROUP50:50 with Swiss musician Elia Rediger, Congolese choreographer Dorine Mokha and curator Patrick Mudekereza. With the Congolese-Swiss collective, she developed a two-year, multi-part political project that included the two music theatre pieces: The Ghosts Are Returning (invited to the Swiss Theatertreffen 2023 and nominated for the FAUST) and Ecosystem (Residenz Leipzig and Kaserne Basel 2023). She co-curated three editions of the Between Land and Sea Festival in Palermo. In 2024, she wrote and directed her first own piece, Fremde Seelen / Âmes étrangères (Belluard Bollwerk International, Theater Neumarkt Zurich, Vorarlberger Landestheater and euro-scène Leipzig).
Headshot of Eva-Maria Bertschy. Image courtesy of the artist.
Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo
Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo studied Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan, specialising in Directing, Dramatic Theories and Criticisms. Aside practising as a performing artiste since June 1980, he has been an Arts and Culture Journalist since 1984, writing mostly on the Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Literature, Film and Cultural Affairs. He joined The Guardian in 1987 as an Arts Reporter and rose to be Arts & Media Editor (Daily) 1992-2003; and Editor, The Guardian on Sunday (2003-2013). He also operates as Culture Curator, Producer, Programmist and Consultant to major local and continental cultural projects e.g National Festival of Arts, NAFEST; Lagos Black Heritage Festival (LBHF); African Drums Festival (ADF); Market for African Performing Arts, MASA, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire; Pan-African Film Festival, FESPACO, Ougadougou, Burkina Faso; Pan-African Theatre Festival PANAFEST, Ghana; Festival sur Niger, FSN, Segou-Mali etc. He was Country Chairman & West Africa Representative Arterial Network (AN), the pan-African network of artists, arts organisations and culture creators, 2015-2017. He is Prog. Chairman Committee for Relevant Art, CORA, as well as Executive Director, Culture Advocates Caucus, CAC, through which he has created, produced and co-ordinated or directed programming contents for major cultural projects around the continent as well as in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. Presently, he has led the CAC to partner on most major culture projects such as the Lagos Book & Art Festival; IREP International Documentary Film Festival; Lagos International Jazz Festival; Lagos International Poetry Festival, while also handling core programming assignments for the Lagos Black Heritage Festival; Lagos@50 Festival and lately African Drum Festival. Continentally, the CAC functions in the advisory committees of major projects such as Market for Africa Performing Arts, MASA, Great Trading Empires of Africa, among others.
Photo of Jahman Oladejo Anikulapo. Image courtesy of Jahman.
ABOUT THE FILM PRODUCERS
Joseph K. Kasau
Born in Lubumbashi in 1995, Joseph K. Kasau Wa Mambwe is a visual artist, filmmaker and author based in Lubumbashi. He holds a degree in Information and Communication Sciences from the University of Lubumbashi, specialising in Performing Arts (Audiovisual, Cinema and Theatre).His passion for art started very early in Lubumbashi's cinemas, and was nourished by multiple visual influences that later formalised in his artistic practice, which is situated at the intersection of cinema, video art, photography, creative writing and addresses in his work the complexity of memory and identity in a postcolonial urban context. He is a fellow of the Trame 2022 residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, of the Delfina Foundation residency programme in England on food politics, of the Tri-continental Quilombo project (DRC - SWITZERLAND - BRAZIL) from 2021 to 2023. Kasau Wa Mambwe also works as a Fixer, Assistant Director, Editorial Assistant and as a Communication Officer for African and Western structures and collectives, among others Les Films de la Passerelle (Belgium), the Lubumbashi Biennale (2019), Museum of Tervuren (Belgium), PODIUM Esslingen (Germany) and GROUP50:50 (DRC - SWITZERLAND - Germany).
Photo of Joseph Kasau . Image courtesy of Group50:50.
Franck Moka
Franck Moka lives and works in Kisangani. With his work in sound, music, video, film and installation, he questions the relationship between humans and the environment. He started rapping in the late 90s and became the alter ego of Pasnas, whom he accompanied in the studio and on stage in Congo, Rwanda and Europe. Self-taught, he began programming his own music and developing sound works before continuing his training with Flip in 2009 and Smockey in Kisangani in 2014. As a performer and actor, he trained with Faustin Linyekula. He was introduced to cinematography by Gael Teicher in 2014.
For several years he has been composing for the stage, for himself and collaborating with other artists such as Dorine Mokha, Elia Rediger, Faustin Linyekula or for the screen with Nelson Makengo. Franck is a writer and director of videos, films and sound pieces and also works as a sound designer and editor. His work - performances, concerts, sound pieces or installations, music, videos, films - has been shown at festivals and exhibitions around the country, mainly in Kisangani and Lubumbashi, where he has often developed them, in Johannesburg (Plat4m), Düsseldorf, Berlin (HAU) and recently in Montreal (Vue d'Afrique), Rotterdam (IFFR) and Dakar (Dakar court). He recently composed the music for "Lisbon, my Lisbon", a play by Faustin Linyekula for the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. He is "artist associé" at Kabako Studios, where he is also artistic coordinator since 2021. Franck directs the Art'gument Project, an institution dedicated to artistic research and exchange, which he founded with Dorine Mokha. He regularly leads workshops in Kisangani and in Lubumbashi.
Photo of Frank Moka. Image courtesy of Group50:50.
Eva-Maria's residency is generously supported by Pro Helvetia.
