we are going to mars

we are going to mars a choreographic concert

comission work for company christoph Winkler, a series of abstract animations based on motion capture data.

the choreographic concert We are Going to mars follows the two video works of the same name by the christoph winkler company, which celebrated their online premiere in november 2021: in a mixture of video, dance and music, the artists involved examined the history of the first african space program in zambia and its reception over the past 50 years. in addition, they build a bridge to the work of the afro-american musician sun ra, who developed his credo "space is the place" at the same time.

for the first time, the company christoph Winkler is now performing the soundtrack that was specially created for the project in full, in which the band Mourning blkstar takes up some aspects of the story. a sonic association space is created in which the dancers now introduce their own movements. from these dancing miniatures and in connection with the band's songs, a free collage about the longing of the "afronauts" for mars and what it can stand for develops.

in 1960, edward mukuka nkoloso founded the zambia national academy of science, space research and philosophy. the goal: an african space program of its own to enter the "space race" between the usa and the soviet union. on a remote farm, he trained with his "afronauts" on self-made equipment. together they built a rocket, the d-kalu 1, and planned to launch it into space on october 24, 1964. the rocket was supposed to be piloted by 17-year-old matha mwambwa, the only woman on the team. the attempt to develop an african space program was not taken seriously by the international press – until a video of the training appeared ten years ago and triggered a change of perspective. to this day it is not certain whether the project was a serious scientific endeavor or a satirical commentary on the megalomania and absurdity of an imperialist showdown - or even a training camp for independence fighters. either way, the term Afronauts today stands for a new self-confidence among black people, which becomes visible in the videos from the 1960s.

text by company christoph winkler

concept

christoph Winkler with: lois alexander, symara johnson, bria bacon, oluwafemi israel adebajo, ridwan rasheed

music

Mourning [ta] blkstar

costume

marie akoury

3d animation

martin boettger / studio.ts

ai video

vadim epstein

audio mixing

björn stegmann

production manager

laura biagioni

video editing

Gabriella fiore

technical management

fabian eichner

a production by company christoph winkler in co-production with sophiensaele funded by the senate department for culture and europe and by the performing arts fund of the federal Government commissioner for culture and the Media.