Last night I attended Festival of Lies by Les Studios Kabako from the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Cedar Cultural Center. Go, and be prepared to spend some money on food and drink. It’s delicious.
Their piece raised questions. Here are some:
- When exploring and presenting a heavy work, might it be best to keep the positive life energy flowing with food, drinks, dancing, and interaction. Does depressing subject matter mean depressing experience?
- I exoticise this African performance, why? Is there value in doing that or am I “bad” because of it?
- What am I expecting to do when I go to an art performance?
- We were told this festival of lies is “A piece of Fiction” at the beginning and the end, yet historical leaders of the Congo were quoted throughout. It felt political. What is a lie? As an American artist how can I be political?
And on my bike ride home these questions brought my mind back to my pre-show dinner conversation with some folks headed to the State to see The Hold Steady.
We talked about myth, politics, celebrity, and earnestness in the media and art we consume.
Speaking of lies vs fiction vs truth, check out Deborah Solomon and her interview with Ira Glass (for context).
What is the line between fiction and truth? How does drawing and noting that line provide a safety for the artist who is then not a journalist?
And in a world without a clear line between fiction and truth, who controls your identity and the identity of your country?
Democratic Republic of Congo by the US State Department
Bonus link: Quirk - the safe odd space
Galen, your questions about truth, fiction, and lies resonate with me. I think the performance points out that the truth/lies dichotomy is not a friendly one. All that text, all those speeches–the speakers assert that they are telling the truth and others are lying. They want us to play their game, to attempt to judge truth and lies. But in reality the line is blurred. People who spend most of the time lying can sometimes tell the truth–perhaps for their own interests.
And meanwhile the dance is going on. How do we assess the truth value of the dance? Clearly it exists in another realm, which must be what Linyekula means by “this is a work of fiction”. Further, I’d say that Linyekula makes us choose between the truth/lies world of the speeches and the “fiction” world of the dance. You can’t pay attention to both at once (particularly if you’re not fluent in French!).
Comment by Lightsey — 11/3/2007 @ 2:58 pm