Black skin, white masks

Première 6. marec 2021, Anton Podbevšek Teater
The first Slovenian performance
Running time 65 minutes. No intermission.

Author, director, choreographer Maša Kagao Knez
Co-creators of the performance Lina Akif, Joseph Nzobandora – Jose, Irena Yebuah Tiran, Leticia Slapnik Yebuah, Maša Kagao Knez
Dramaturg and director Ivana Djilas
Assistant choreographer Rosana Hribar
Composer Boštjan Gombač
Author of lyrics Joseph Nzobandora – Jose
Costume designer Jelena Proković
Video designer Vesna Krebs
Lighting and set designer Danilo Pečar

Cast
Lina Akif
Joseph Nzobandora – Jose
Irena Yebuah Tiran
Leticia Slapnik Yebuah
Maša Kagao Knez

As we already wanted to throw racism into the dustbin of history, where it really belongs, the world was once again shaken by the news that racism persists and that the issue is more than burning. After the violent death of George Floyd in the United States, which further fuelled the Black Lives Matter movement, it turned out that in the 21st century, systemic racism is still encoded in the very structure of the supposedly most democratic societies in the world. Our pretending about this problem shows only our ignorance and inability to deal with this issue. Can we say that there is no racism in Slovenia? That racism has not yet become a relevant topic for us? That this is happening somewhere else, for example, far away in America? That a handful of those "colourful" and "black" people who live in our country are just an exotic exception? That they are a part of "us" because we trust them and that we are therefore willing to overlook their differences, their otherness? As long as society needs the Other for its confirmation or finding the culprit for its own failure and spreads fears, tensions, divisions among the population, the problem will continue to exist. As the author of the performance, Maša Kagao Knez, points out, "our" society has a whole spectrum of difficulties accepting differences: migrants will undoubtedly rob you and rape your wives; "chefurs" (a slur for anyone originating from one of the former Yugoslav republics) will occupy your jobs; your black neighbour will certainly attack you; the disabled are "poor" and not equal citizens; gays "destroy" families, even though they cannot even start their own in the current legal conditions. This more or less open contempt for others and the different, even though it is sometimes just "innocent" and unintentional commenting, is the theme of the show. How much damage do "good people" actually do when we "don’t want to hurt anyone"?