Tanzquartier Wien

„I decided in favour of the autobiographical because I’m interested in what is unique and personal. In fact, no one else can tell my story but me, because no one else can see the world through my eyes. Because of this unique quality, every person has his own place in the world. While we tend to generalise, to label, to make packages, it was my aim to say: I am not one story, I am many stories.“ — Mohamed Toukabri

Mohamed Toukabri’s self-portrait engages with issues concerning the politics of migration and its ramifications: Ten years ago, Toukabri arrived in Brussels to study at P.A.R.T.S, and he has since travelled between his native country, Tunisia, and his adopted homeland, Belgium, oscillating between two cultures and traditions, between different art movements and dance styles. His performance specifically addresses this space of the in-between: between emotion and reason, representation and being, one moment and the next. In The Upside Down Man, autobiographical texts are juxtaposed with a virtuoso movement vocabulary – ranging from Tunisian breakdance to contemporary dance – and a counternarrative is created that suspends the negative bias which dominates debates on migration: a counternarrative that tells the story of beauty and riches found in the life of a person traveling between countries, cultures and histories.

Trailer