HIER BEN IK – Manu Moreau

Manu Moreau is quarter Ugandan. His father meets his mother at the age of 50. Together they have three sons, two white and one light brown: Manu. He grows up in Zwijndrecht, a village where he is the only boy of color.

Manu is the grandson of Marcel Moreau, a Belgian colonial who knocked up his Congolese housekeeper in 1926. Three years later, Marcel sends his son – Manu’s father – to Belgium and never looks back at him.

In 2023, Manu traveled with Johan Petit to the place where his father was born. They discovered that his grandfather left a trail of suffering and sorrow not only in Belgium but also in Uganda and Congo.

With Here I Am, Manu goes in search of his roots. To better understand himself and his place in the world. Because: if you want to know who you are, you need to know where you came from.

Beats and music are sampled and scratched together by legendary hip-hop DJ Thong.

For anyone 15 years and older.

play: Manu Moreau – text and direction: Johan Petit – set: Tim Clement – soundtrack: Thong Nguyen – costume: Tine Deseure
In cooperation with De Studio, Antwerp and MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM. In co-production with Perpodium, with the support of the Belgian federal government’s Taxshelter through Cronos Invest.