Biography
Exploring memory, the act of forgetting and the suppression of memory in his works, Faustin Linyekula addresses the legacy of decades of war, terror, fear and the economic collapse endured by himself, his family, friends and community.
After studying literature and drama in Kisangani, Linyekula moved to Nairobi in 1993 where in 1997 he set up the Gàara company, Kenya’s first contemporary dance company, with Opiyo Okach. He returned to Congo in June 2001, and established Studios Kabako in Kinshasa, a space dedicated to dance and visual theatre.
Faustin has created ten pieces with the Studios Kabako including, more more more… future (2009) that has toured extensively in Europe, United States and Africa, Pour en finir avec Bérénice (2010), Faustin’s own private version of Jean Racine’s piece previously staged for the Comédie Française in Paris in 2009, Le Cargo, his first solo presentation (2011) and Drums and Digging (2013). Other recent project include a commission for the Ballet de Lorraine in Nancy, France (2012).
In 2007, he received the Principal Award of the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development and in 2014, he received the American Curry Stone Foundation Design Prize for the Studios Kabako. Faustin is associate artist at the KVS Theater in Brussels.
This person was part of Sharjah Biennial 12
