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What is already here? Studio Showing and Discussion with Joseph K. Kasau Wa Mambwe (Democratic Republic of Congo), Majula Drammeh (Sweden), Thabiaso Kubheka Persson (Sweden)
This studio showing culminates two weeks of audiovisual experimentation for the futuristic (Afro)play What is already here?. Participants will experience this work-in-development and join the artists in discussing key conceptual themes including: surveillance and the dematerialization of social relations.
In a world fixated on the unyielding acceleration of technological progress, this interactive theatre installation in-development urges audiences to reconnect with the tangible through a resounding affirmation of collective belonging. Deep within a dystopian assemblage of electronic waste—discarded cables, defunct screens and obsolete motherboards—audiences enter a subterranean laboratory, both relic of the present and forewarning of the environmental degradation shaping our future.
The piece draws on ancestral wisdom and Afrofuturist visions to question the virtual megastructures that define our age. The performers invite participants to become co-creators of the unfolding narrative and resist digital dependencies that erode freedoms and fuel disconnection. Together, they trace new trajectories for unlearning the automations of modern existence in an immersive experience that challenges audiences to 'hack the code' and rediscover what it means to be fully human in a time of digital alienation.
The public is invited to a studio showing of this work-in-progress for a special glimpse into the artists’ creative process, providing a unique opportunity to engage in a collaborative conversation between audience and creators.
Image: [Still Shot] What is Already Here? Stockholm Residency, Joseph K. Kasau Wa Mambwe, Majula Drammeh
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Born and based in Lubumbashi since 1995, Joseph K. Kasau Wa Mambwe holds a degree in Information and Communication Sciences with a specialisation in Performing Arts. With a trans-disciplinary practice that questions structures of dispossession and solidarity, Joseph's artistic gesture revolves around the urgent need to produce new narratives. From theatre and film to photography, installation and creative writing, his work addresses the complexity of memory and identity in a post-colonial urban context. Her research and productions pay close attention to social interactions, highlighting power relations and proposing alternatives for change and coming together.
His experience as a researcher and artistic director has enabled him to develop projects that put people at the centre of all her creations, reflecting on more tactile and human ways of making the world, and affirming his commitment to the environmental cause through stage and installation creations that are part of a global conversation in favour of a decolonial ecology.
Majula Drammeh (born 1982) is an interdisciplinary dance and performance artist. Her work is shaped by extensive training in dance theatre at the Laban Center in London, where she holds a BA, and the Stockholm University of the Art, where she holds an MA in Performing Arts. Grounded in dance and choreography, Majula's artistic practice explores how the performing arts create spaces for interpersonal relationships, addressing vulnerability and challenging societal norms. Her work offers participants and actors a platform to explore their bodily identities and the political nuances associated with them. Her performances transcend conventional spaces, taking place in art galleries, city streets, abandoned clubs, dark rooms and video installations. Majula also works as dramaturge for dance and performance.
With a degree in Fine Arts from Stockholm University of the Arts, specialising in lighting design, Thabiso Kubheka Persson is a lighting designer motivated by the search for focal points in the narrative that can be highlighted and emphasised by lighting in relation to the set and the performers. Often these focal points revolve around identity, and the task then is to play with and change the individual's relationship to the world, manipulating the space in which the ensemble and the audience share.
In connection with the What is already here project, Thabiso has developed an idea for a sober, precise lighting design that intensifies the performers' movements as much as it allows them to situate themselves in a fictitious space.
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