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CUBA ORANGES by Viviana Medina sheds light on the lives of the more than 30,000 Cuban contract workers who came to the GDR from the early 1960s onwards – a largely unknown facet of German-Cuban history. The evening creates an immersive world in which numerous personal episodes of hope, homesickness, cultural clashes, rejection, friendship and everyday socialist life in a foreign and German country are brought to life in a variety of ways. Viewers are invited to engage with the intimate and private moments of diasporic life before and after the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. The performative installation allows visitors to take part in a Cuban birthday party that is permeated not only by the memories of former contract workers, but also by subsequent generations.

 

An immersive spatial installation awaits the audience at the Humboldt Forum, which is given a new dimension by the performance of actress Sithembile Menck. Using elements from private family archives, personal interviews and authentic recordings, a dense, emotional narrative is created about identity, culture and the collective memory of people who are now mostly living in Cuba again.

This further development of the work CUBA ORANGES, which premiered at the OSTEN festival in Bitterfeld-Wolfen in June 2024, brings the voices of the past to life and invites the audience to discover an often overlooked chapter of German-Cuban history. With KUBA ORANGEN, Viviana Medina creates an artistic exploration of the symbolism and meaning of objects that embody both personal memories and the collective stories of Cubans.

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Participants

Performance
Sithembile Menck

Director
Viviana M. Medina

Stage
Luis Ernesto Rivas Peralta

Costume
Viviana M. Medina

Dramaturgy
Roman Schmitz & Sarah C. Wray

Photography
Ida Kammerloch

Assistant director
Sarah C. Wray

 

Partner

The project was developed in 2024 as part of the Festival OSTEN in Bitterfeld-Wolfen.

A production by Viviana Medina, in co-production with Festival OSTEN/Kulturpark e.V. and  Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.

 

Festival OSTEN

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