Alphonse Eklou Uwantege

Alphonse Eklou Uwantege presents restes, a danced, spoken and whispered reflection in which it dialogues with the ghosts that haunt us. It is a ritual tribute to their uncle Alphonse Kanimba, who was killed during the Tutsi genocide in April 1994.

restes is about transmission, about an inheritance that we did not choose for ourselves and that leaves a mark on us – the living. They are the restes or remnants of a name, a story, a genocide, a trauma, a wandering soul that cannot find its way out. Which of these relics do we re-appropriate and which do we abandon?

Concept, text, performance: Alphonse Eklou Uwantege – Dramaturgy and text: Alice Jumelle – Sound design: Ashley Martin – Lighting design: Mariana Blanc Moya. With support from MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP.

Alphonse Eklou Uwantege (they/them) is a queer Archer, born in Minsk to a Rwandan mother and Togolese father. Alphonse is a model, performer and director based in Brussels.

In their work, Alphonse sees the body as an instrument, writing as a means of resurrection, and performance as a political necessity. Their method is driven by the desire to break the conventions of representation and rewrite the relationship between spectators and performers by disrupting theatrical spaces.