Debuts in Barcelona Ntando Cele, the creator who questions "the disaster we have turned the world into"

BarcelonaThe Grec festival annually seeks out the most in-vogue creators on the international scene to bring them to Barcelona and thus become a showcase for the most celebrated shows worldwide. In this year's edition, one of these names is that of South African artist Ntando Cele (Durban, 1980), who has landed in the Catalan capital with two proposals in her suitcase: Wasted land (which is being performed at the Teatre Lliure this Friday and Saturday) and SPAfrica (which will be seen this Tuesday and Wednesday at the Centre de les Arts Lliures).

Cele understands the stage as a space for protest through humor, music, and performance. In Wasted land, she focuses on Western fast fashion and how the waste generated impacts Africa. "I conceived this show to commit to sustainability. The clothes sold in Europe are suffocating people in Africa," emphasizes the creator, referring to the fact that developing countries become waste dumps for rich countries. To explore this issue, Cele has conceived a large-scale show in which she uses music, projections, theater, and, above all, humor. "For me, it was important to talk about death and destruction, and humor is the best way to convey the message," she points out. The ultimate goal of her art, she adds, is to find solutions: "Together we can build an alternative reality and change the present. We are all involved in its creation."

A drink of empathy

Cele's second proposal at Grec, SPAfrica, takes on other dimensions —it is small in format, with the creator practically alone on stage— but maintains the critical spirit intrinsic to the creator's works. Developed jointly with director Julian Hetzel, the work imagines a drink of empathy created in Africa from the tears of its inhabitants and exported to Europe. With this premise, the show reflects on the link between capitalism and racism, the exploitation of natural resources, and colonialism. "I come to question the disaster we have made of the world. If we take water from South Africa, for example, what will we give them back in return?" asks the artist.

SPAfrica attacks the management of natural resources in developing countries by the West, but also the management of "emotional resources." On stage, Cele also speaks of the loss and suffering related to the migration of thousands of people and, placing herself at the center, wonders if the exhibition and representation of trauma has become a new value in the art world.