Hibiscus Culturiste
Hibiscus Culturiste is the company created by Marvin M’toumo (1994, lives and works between Paris and Geneva), an artist whose singular poetry claims to go beyond the academic distinctions between art, theatre, literature and fashion. He expresses his sensibility in the fluidity of a decompartmentalized practice, where he places identities, stereotypes and archetypes at the centre of a critical poetics filled with symbols, humour and dramaturgy.
He graduated from the National Superior School of the Villa Arson in Nice in 2016, where he created various performances: sound performances such as Cahr (2014), dance performances such as Kouros (2015) and tableaux vivants such as Farofa (2015). He also directed his first two short films, La Partir( 2015), Les Fulgurances( 2016) and Ibis (2018). He also worked on several literary texts, including Blé ( 2016), Devoçaos (2017) and Larmes Modèles (2019). In 2017 he joined the Fashion and Accessory Design section of the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) from which he graduated in 2019. He designed the costumes and performed at the Théâtre de l’Usine for the play So long lives this, and this gives life to thee by Kayije Kagame (2019) and Avec Grace, he designed the costumes for Sans Grace at the Théâtre du Grütli in Geneva and at L’Arsenic in Lausanne (2020). He designed a costume for the play Showroom by Igor Cardellini, Rébecca Balestra and Tomas Gonzalez at the Théâtre de Vidy in Lausanne and at the festival La Bâtie in Geneva (2021).
At the same time he is a finalist for the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Excellence Award (2019). He was one of the finalists of the prestigious Hyères International Fashion and Photography Festival at the Villa Noailles where he won the prestigious Chloé Prize with his collection Chien Fleur (2020). He is currently collaborating with Lognon (Chanel 2021) and Jean Paul Gaultier for a capsule collection of Marvin M’toumo x Jean Paul Gaultier ready-to-wear entitled Les Marins ( 2021).
Now
Concours de larmes
Concours de larmes takes us into a poetic, entertaining and cathartic arena where we confront our experiences of crying. The sad clown, the drama queen, the weeper or the crocodile tears, it is through these archetypal figures that they question this old patriarchal idea that it is necessary to be a woman. The Contest of tears takes us into a poetic, entertaining and cathartic arena where we confront our experiences of crying. The sad clown, the drama queen, the weeper or the crocodile tears, it is through these archetypal figures that they question this old patriarchal idea that we must “de-dramatize” our pains, our angers and our sorrows. Together, they give themselves the time and space to tell and live our tears, sometimes funny, disturbing, provocative, tender and often powerful.
Distribution
Performers _ Davide Christelle Sanve, Chienne de garde, Elie Autin, Clarisse Charlot Buon, Marvin M’toumo
Costumes, scenography, writing _ Marvin M’toumo
Director _ Marvin M’toumo
Assistant director _ Clarisse Charlot-Buon
Make-up art _ Chaïm Vischel
Sound writing _ Victoria Pacheco
Lighting _ Alessandra Domingues
Administration _ Anna Ladeira – Le Voisin
Co-production _ TU – Théâtre de l’Usine
With the support of the City of Geneva, the Loterie romande
Rectum Crocodile
“Rectum Crocodile” is a fierce plea where in turn are summoned by a choreography of gestures, bodies and voices, the ghosts of colonialism that still haunt the Caribbean. Rectum Crocodile” is an hour-long dance poem, a howl from the soles of the feet, a cry from the intestines that resonates in our arms. Taking as a basis of research the polysemy and politics of the Caribbean carnival as well as the multidisciplinarity of the European operatic tradition, “Rectum Crocodile” wants to show the dismembered “theater” of the plantation where each one holds his role.
In a quadrifrontal device, composed of a vegetal ground and a central sculpture in the shape of a malignant Reptile, the dancers disarticulate their bodies while articulating declarations, accusations and interrogations. One rubs shoulders with the demons of the “new world”, the ghosts torn from Africa, the noisy clothes of the executioners, the choreography of savagery, the breathless voices of the demons of anger. The audience sees a ballet of characters parade together noisily: The whip, the “black police man”, the devil, the “mulattress”, the crocodile, the money, the “black jesus”, the master, the mermaid, the panther, the “nigger”… These and other figures are summoned as characters of the same history of colonialism and part of the Caribbean cosmogony or ecosystem to testify at this Crocodile Rectum.
From October 31 to November 3, 2023, Festival Emergentia, ADC Geneva
Distribution :
Marvin M’toumo : direction, writing, set design, costume, performance
Davide Christelle sanvee : performance
Elie Autin : performance
Chienne de Garde – Vanessa Sindihebura : performance
Amy Mbengue : performance
Djamila Dimbelolo : performance
Vica Pacheco : music, performance
Alessandra Domingues : Light creation
Chaïm Vischel : Make-up
Marie Schaller : costume assistant
Anna Ladeira – Le Voisin : administration and production