Mandinga is a collaborative project with Esteban Donoso, combining storytelling, performance, and audiovisual work. We first met during the post-master program A.PASS, where our shared backgrounds—migrating from South America to Europe, a grounding in dance, and a desire to expand our artistic practices—brought us together. The project began with a series of intimate sessions where we recalled childhood memories, often triggered by photos, objects, or questions we asked one another. These exchanges became the foundation for a work that explores memory, spirituality, and identity across geographies.
Developed within the A.PASS Research Center, Mandinga takes the form of a performance that integrates a pre-edited film with live elements: as the film unfolds, we simultaneously create new images on stage and narrate stories in real time. Much of this material is inspired by the religious practices that shaped our families in Brazil and Ecuador. We experimented with writing methods reminiscent of telepathy and psychography, as a way to revisit hidden places and unresolved memories. The title reflects this duality of meaning: in Brazil, mandinga refers to black magic or a spell, while in Ecuador it signifies mestizo, or mixed identity. In performance, these resonances converge into a ritualized dialogue between past and present, the body and the screen, intimacy and collective history.
Mandinga – History of Presentations & Residencies
March–June 2021 – Research and development residency at A.PASS Research Center, Brussels, where the project began through storytelling exchanges, writing, and audiovisual experimentation.
June 2021 – First public presentation of Mandinga at De Markten, Brussels, as part of the A.PASS Open Studios.
Autumn 2021 – Residency at WP Zimmer, Antwerp, focused on developing the film and performance layers of the project, testing the live-narration and image-making strategies.
September 2022 – Presentation of excerpts from Mandinga at Tanzmesse Düsseldorf, within the Open Studios program, introducing the hybrid format (film + live performance) to an international context.
thiago antunes 