“I change in exchange with the other without losing or falsifying myself.” Édouard Glissant
Étienne Minoungou is on a quest. He seeks to understand the state of the world—and to transform it. Fol-lowing in the footsteps of Aimé Césaire and Sony Labou Tansi, the artist now turns to the vision of Édouard Glissant, in collaboration with writer and philosopher Felwine Sarr.
To counter the deep sense of insecurity provoked by the world’s unpredictable upheavals, Glissant advocated for a worldview grounded in the acceptance of uncertainty. He called this creolisation—a process of constant transformation in which one remains true to oneself while staying open to others. Long before Europe was overwhelmed by today’s migration debates, Glissant warned: “The stages of empire are not hospitable… Borders meant to keep immigrants out are the worst.” In his 2009 work Philosophy of World Relations, published shortly before his death, he introduced the “principle of relational identity”—a radical alternative to the rigid notion of identity rooted in a single origin.
Minoungou chose to engage in a dialog and encounter with the audience in order to revisit the works and utopian ideas of Édouard Glissant in light of current world events. Through his direct way of playing and supported by the musical interventions, we are individually addressed and ‘meant’. Between musical oratorio and political stand-up, ‘moving thoughts’ are constructed that we cannot escape and that have a long-lasting effect.
Édouard Glissant (*1928 in Bézaudin, Martinique; † 2011 in Paris) was a French writer and philosopher. The author of the French-speaking Caribbean was one of the intellectual pioneers of post-colonial theories of identity and culture.
Le tremblement du monde is the new theater work by Étienne Minoungou, one of the defining personalities of Burkinabe theater.
CONCEPT, DIRECTION, SCENOGRAPHY & PERFORMANCE Etienne Minoungou | LIVE MUSIC Katrine Suwalski and Simon Winsé | OUTSIDE EYE Aristide Tarnagda | ASSISTANCE Léa Marie | DRAMATURGICAL ADAPTION Etienne Minoungou, Aristide Tarnagda, Felwine Sarr | MUSICAL DESIGN Simon Winsé | LIGHT DESIGN Nicolas Oubraham | DIRECTOR Rémy Brans | TRANSLATION Beate Thill | PRODUCTION Compagnie Falinga, Ventdebout Asbl | CO-PRODUCTION Théâtre de Liège, Théâtre Le Public, Théâtre de Namur | SUPPORT Institut Français (Paris) and CITF
- A figure of thought that dances around its subject, creates views in all directions and does not march rigidly towards it and try to pin it down one-dimensionally. ↩︎