Iakwe | 2024 – Bookable
Two video letters and a docu-fiction play for young people and adults
IAKWE, or how the rainbow came out of the basement – IAKWE means "hello," "love," or "goodbye" in Marshallese. Literally translated: "You are as beautiful as the rainbow." Twenty-five young people worked together with Mylast Bilimon, professor of Marshallese Studies at the College of the Marshall Islands, Ingrid Ahlgren, head of the Oceania Collection at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Godwin Kornes, provenance researcher for the Brandeis Collection mentioned above, and Nicole Burghardt-Landmann, collection manager at the Museum of Nature and Man, Freiburg, examined Marshallese cultural objects from the archives of the Freiburg museum and embarked on an investigative journey documented on film. This resulted in an exchange between German (Freiburg) and Marshallese (Majuro) young people in the form of video letters and a test piece in which the Freiburg young people, together with a Marshallese musician, discussed their impressions, thoughts, and visions.
Freiburg and the Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands are located almost exactly on the other side of the globe and consist of over 1,000 islands and atolls. About 120 years ago, numerous art objects and everyday items were brought from the Marshall Islands to Germany. Many of them are now in the Museum of Nature and Man in Freiburg, the so-called "Brandeis Collection." Who do these objects belong to now? How were they used? What stories do they hold, and who can tell them? Together with the young people, a video letter and a digital archive of some cultural objects are created, which are shown at various schools in the Marshall Islands and made available for research. About six months later, we receive a letter. It is the response film from the "Time Detectives," a group of Marshallese young people who describe their view of the objects and the situation in their country.
An ambitious project with passion in every phase of the research, featuring exciting information and sincere reflections.
– Marion Klötzer, Badische Zeitung
Cast: Karl Burde, Paul Burde, Lena Drieschner, Ferdinand Höscheler, Annabella
Marconi, Pauline Neff, Lina Schmälzle, Luna Straw
The video letters were produced by and with around 40 young people from Freiburg and Marshall Islands.
Artistic direction, staging, scenography: Jens Burde, Vanessa Valk
Artistic Director and Production Manager, Marshall Islands: Mark Uriona, Viviana Uriona
Music: Carlton Abon, Johannes Frisch, Konrad Wiemann
Art education and costumes: Magdalena Vogt
Dramaturgy and artistic production management, Theater TIER: Nikolai Ulbricht
Critical racism counseling: Judith Blumberg
Expert on Marshall Islands objects: Mylast Bilimon
Technical setup: Cornelia Winterholler
Media education and film production: Freiburg Sarah Moll
Editing assistance and subtitling for films in Freiburg: Yannik Bernion
Dramaturgy Theater Freiburg: Michael Kaiser
Artistic production management Theater Freiburg and evening performance management: Isabella Kammerer
Production assistant and evening performance management: Luna Vollmer
Photos: Marc Doradzillo
A production by Theater TIER in co-production with Theater Freiburg and in
Cooperation with the Museum of Nature and Man in Freiburg and the Jo-Jikum Association
(Majuro, Marshall Islands)
Funded by the Sociocultural Fund and with the kind support of Sparkasse Freiburg-Nördlicher Breisgau, TheaterFreunde, and the Freiburg Regional Council.
The production team would like to thank Ingrid Ahlgren, Curator of Oceanic Collections, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Nicole Landmann-Burghardt and Godwin Kornes from the Museum Natur und Mensch Freiburg, as well as Loredel Faye R. Areieta and the Jo-Jikum association, who made valuable contributions to the realization of this project. Many thanks also to all the young people who researched, discussed, asked questions, and collected material with us, but are not themselves on stage.