Chokri Ben Chikha goes in search of his black woman, his Black Venus. This quest takes him past Leopold II, colonial heroes Lieutenant Lippens and Sergeant De Bruyne, cycling hero Frank Vandenbroucke, Geert Wilders, Jef Geeraerts, Maurice Béjart, Carl Hagenbeck and MTV.
Between 2003 and 2007, Chokri Ben Chikha created his family triptych: The Lion of Flanders, Our Lady of Flanders and Brothers of Love. Since 2009, he has been exploring the phenomenon of the zoo humain. In these human zoos, exotic people were exhibited in Europe around 1900. What contemporary zoos humains are hidden in our current society?
The Finale is a stand-up tragedy about cherishing and destroying the other.
The Finale is the last part of the Heroic Death Trilogy. Three projects exploring the concept of heroism: one in Senegal, one on the streets of Flanders and one in the theatre.
Press
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De Standaard (Belgium)
02.12.2010"Chokri Ben Chikha begins his Finale as an accomplished stand-up comedian (...), but he does not consider crude jokes to be a win. Suggestion, emotion and textual depth continue to prevail." -
Cutting Edge (Belgium)
19.01.2011"Action Zoo Humain provides us with a captivating evening. Backed by carefully selected visual material, Chokri Ben Chikha captivates the audience. Despite the serious subject matter, it is not a heavy performance... He knows how to make good use of the medium of theatre for a personal quest.”Read more -
De Morgen (interview) (Belgium)
18.12.2010“When criticism is levelled at the statue, it always concerns Lippens, De Bruyne and the colonials. The woman is not mentioned. She sits humbly at the bottom of the pedestal, without clothes. “Stereotypical and sexist”. But no one thinks about that, neither then nor now. That's what my performance is about.”Read more
Credits
- With and by
- Chokri Ben Chikha
- Text
- Chokri Ben Chikha, Erwin Jans, Joost Vandecasteele
- Coaching
- Herwig Deweerdt, Koen Augustijnen
- Music
- Zouzou Ben Chikha
- Visuals
- Visual Creations
- Technical crew
- Dimitri Joly, Ousmane Niangeen
- Assistant director
- Bregt Van Wijnendaele
- Production
- Action Zoo Humain & WCC Zuiderpershuis
- With the support of
- KASK School of arts (drama departement)
