Kasala: The Slaughterhouse of Dreams or the First Human, Bende's Error

The Slaughterhouse of Dreams is a performance and interactive video installation on the subject of the transmission of Luba specific history through mnemonic objets and orality.

The Kasala is a ceremonial pœm, a laudatory, public and solemn way of naming the person. In the Baluba tradition, the“Kasala” is a well-defined form of slogans or pœtry in free verse. It is sung or recited, sometimes with instrumental accompaniment, by men and women who are professional specialists. It dramatizes public events that require strong emotions, such as courage in battle, collective joy at official functions, and mourning at funerals. In style and content, kasala is an entirely different genre with proverbs, myths, fables, riddles, tales and historical narratives.

A contemporary Kasala written by Fiston Mwanza Mujila - a Congolese author based in Graz, Austria - on expropriations of diamond diggers is recited by the author him- self accompanied by Patrick Dunst on saxophone and Grilli Pollheimer on the drums. On stage copper musical instruments (a drum and a trumpet) whose surface has been marked by traditional scarification are presented. In the meanwhile, the performance is recorded and transposed into an interactive installation where images of Con- golese television reports are mixed with images of X Ray scanned sculptures and images of Mbudye dancers. The public is thus able to interact and choose what they want to see and listen to.