Papy Ebotani ( Congo) is one of the artists in the Sharjah Biennial
Sharjah Biennial 12 is still on until 5 June in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, crossing the emirate to sites in and around the city as well as in the city of Kalba on the Gulf of Oman.
Funeral Brass, 2015, performance.
About:
Papy Ebotani has been a dancer for over fifteen years. He is an associate artist at Studios Kabako in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo, and has worked with fellow SB12 artist and choreographer Faustin Linyekula since 2001. His performances include: Engundele, a quatuor (2009), Parlement debout (2007) and Na tempo (2004) which have been presented in Europe, Africa and the United States. Ebotani lives and works in Kisangani.
About performance in Sharjah:
The performance, Fanfare funérailles (funeral brass), conceptualized and performed by the Congolese dancer and choreographer Papy Ebotani, and based on a text by young Congolese writer and choreographer Dorine Mokha, took place on March 6 as one of the opening events of the 12th Sharjah Biennial. The rituals of the funerary procession here provide a showcase for the rites of the adherents to a dandy-ish Congolese subculture known as les sapeurs, or Societe des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Elegantes (the Society of Tastemakers and Elegant People), forming a kind of resistance, however fashionable, to the pain, grief, oppression, or impoverishment of daily life. Ebotani’s performance incorporated traditional North African instrumentation and Congolese pop culture (the performers included rapper Shoggy Angoy, sapeur Lesasa Jocker and comedian Gaylor Yogolelo), the rites of death with the social rites of the living, and the residents of the city with the visitors to the Biennial, all taking place on the streets of Sharjah. As one UAE-based art critic described it, “With this brilliant performance, the Biennial came to the city and the city came to the Biennial. Visitors were suddenly part of the streets and residents were drawn for a moment into the art world.” (Natalie Hegert, MutualArt.Com).
