Kuba Orangen. Zwischen dir und mir - Performance

In the organizer's words:

KUBA ORANGEN 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 participate in a Cuban birthday party that is permeated not only by the memories of former contract workers, but also by subsequent generations.

At the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the audience can expect an immersive spatial installation that 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 KUBA ORGANGEN, 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.

• 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

- 8 EUR, reduced 4 EUR

- Please book your ticket in advance online or at the box office in the foyer.

- Language: German

- Location: Hall 2, ground floor, Hall 1, ground floor

- Belongs to: Auf Wiedersehen, Palast, Hin und weg. The Palace of the Republic is present