Collectif Kahraba (Lebanon)

The Lebanese company Collectif Kahraba presents Géologie d’une Fable [Geology of a Fable], a show for the whole family about Persian fables, which Aesop was inspired by and which, in turn, also inspired La Fontaine and Marie de France.

Géologie d’une Fable combines narration, dance and manipulation of objects and sounds, with clay as the central element, which Éric Deniaud and Aurélien Zouki model in front of us, to create characters, animals, objects or landscapes, with which they tell universal stories, whose wisdom has been handed down to our time. Pure visual poetry!

^{"From a ball of clay that they model before our eyes, a donkey, a turtle, a cow, a tree are born (...). A show that transports us to a Babel of tales and a beautiful carnival of animals." - Sceneweb}

^{"A show of unquestionable visual beauty by the talented hands of its two sculptors-painters-puppeteers (...). To the magnificent multifaceted work (sculptors-painters-puppeteers-actors-body mastery) of the protagonists (...), we must add the superb sound space created by Emmanuel Zouki and the well-designed scenic space and perfect lighting by Tamara Baddredine." - Ferran Baile, Recomana}

^{"The aridity of the land transformed into visual poetry (...). The show, magnificent from beginning to end, essentially captures the Persian fables that inspired Marie de France and Jean de La Fontaine (...). It is a sublime performance that represents brushstrokes of these fables in different ways. Its performers, sometimes ceramists, sculptors or archaeologists, investigate and recreate the genesis of these fables through a single raw material: clay (...). The figures do not only emerge from clay, it is also used as a base for a central light screen, where landscapes are drawn, allowing us to decipher civilizations and the stylized forms of Arab ideograms." - Irma Borges, Titeresante}

BIO

Founded in Lebanon in 2007, Collectif Kahraba is a company made up of artists and technicians from different disciplines who believe in art as a means of dialogue and openness. In 2011, they organized the multidisciplinary festival Us, The Moon & The Neighbors in Beirut. With six editions, this event managed to position itself as a platform for collaboration, exchange and meeting between the public and local and international artists. In 2017, Collectif Kahraba took over the artistic direction of Hammana Artist House, a residence space for artists that he co-founded with Robert Eid to develop imagination, curiosity, critical sense and contribute, with shared responsibility, to the construction of a culture of peace. The work of the Lebanese company is reflected in more than eighteen productions that are performed regularly inside and outside Lebanon, in which they explore different theatrical forms, such as theatre, puppetry and dance.

CREDITS

_{Direction, performers, dramaturgy and scenography: Éric Deniaud, Aurélien Zouki Soundscape: Emmanuel Zouki Lighting design and technical direction: Tamara Badreddine Photography: Rima Maroun Apoios: French Institute in Lebanon and Swiss Embassy in Lebanon}

_{www.collectifkahraba.org}