Afrovibes festival 2025

Afrovibes festival 2025 – Legacy | cultural heritage

Afrovibes brings contemporary African dance and theater makers to Rotterdam. From an African perspective, they give artistic form to current issues and themes that are also relevant to us. About who we are, what we want to be, and how we are connected to each other. The theme of the festival is Legacy | cultural heritage. How do African creators experience the current zeitgeist and their cultural heritage? What will we leave behind for future generations?

Bling! - Buhle Ngaba (South Africa) at Maaspodium

In the theater performance Bling!, actress Buhle Ngaba from South Africa delves into the history of the Cullinan diamond. Excavated in South Africa, cut in Amsterdam, and ending up in the crown of the English royal family. Many South Africans want the diamond back. In her multimedia performance, Ngaba uses imagination, satire, and humor to explore whether returning cultural heritage such as the Cullinan diamond can heal the scars of the past. Travel with flickering images from the future and from the courtroom with the Cullinan diamond back to South Africa in the theater performance Bling!

IAM - Tandile Mbatsha (South Africa) at Maaspodium

In the powerful theater and dance performance I AM, Tandile Mbatsha from South Africa takes you back to his childhood in the South African countryside. Where, as a child, he had to search for his queer identity and how to belong. I AM is a powerfully performed statement against transphobia and homophobia in Africa, which are evident in statements that being queer is un-African. The performance is preceded by a performance by Sunni Lamin Barrow. He is a literary artist and spoken word artist from Gambia who now lives and works in the Netherlands. He uses poetry and performance as his compass and creates spaces in his performances where sadness, joy, love, being queer, being black, global citizenship, and rituals can meet.