WAKATI
WAKATI
Summary
Wakati is a Swahili word for time. The performance Wakati explores the idea of time in an abstract form; how past, present and future affect the development of a culture and the life of a human. As a black immigrant and artist, working in a predominantly culturally white environment, my belonging is often questioned.
In Wakati we will explore the idea about time, identity and heritage, choreographed and performed by Shelmith Øseth together with the musician and composer Stephan Meidell. The performance has been in development with work-in-progress showings in two different arenas. Here I apply for a three-week production period, and a tour (Oslo, Bergen & Edinburgh). During these weeks we will work with choreography, text, musical material, costumes and lighting design in February 2025.
Wakati will premiere at Nordic Black Theatre 5th of March with extra shows at 6th & 7th of March 2025 and one show at BIT Teatergarasjen Bergen 22th. March 2025. Wakati is to present max 5 shows at the Edinburgh Fringe August 2025 (dates not set yet).
Partners
Vibeke Flesland Havre, playwright and dramaturg
Stephan Meidell; musician and composer
Jan Holden; light technician
Producer: Camilla Svingen (Syv-Mil)
Olga Regitze; costume designer.
Carte Blanche: co - producer
BIT Teatergarasjen: co - producer
Fargespill: choreography adviser and help. as well as use of studio for rehearsals
Bergen Dansesenter: use of studio and helps with marketing Wakati
fundings: Kulturrådet, FFUK, Fond for lyd og bilde, Bergen Kommune.
Wakati has toured within BIT Teatergarasjen, Nordic Black Theater and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Bergen Fringe THE DEN under CODA Festival all in 2025. In 2026 we will tour with Wakati within the schools in Bergen Norway and Edinburgh fringe 2026.
Introduction
In Wakati, the performer explores her own cultural history and heritage through time. By using her own experience of immigrating to Norway from Kenya, Shelmith examines how facing the expectations, ideas and limits that come with being an immigrant and multicultural in Norway. The work sheds light on how identity changes and develops within the same culture and between different cultures. As well as how time, identity and culture are intertwined phenomenons; Through Wakati Øseth examines how to transform these explorations into an artistic material.
Artistic concept:
Wakati is a Swahili word for time. In Swahili it has a broad meaning and refers to the passage of time in big and small scales, and the effects that time has on individuals, cultures and identity. Wakati is an expression of and reflection on human relations towards each other within the context of time, and how time shapes us and our values. The notions, stigma and assumptions we have towards each other as people are perhaps the human things that are within us all.
The era we’re born into, the environment we grow up in and the teachings we gain along the way each of these affects the way we see other cultures and peoples. Time records our experiences with our families and values. Time provides context for these experiences and provides space for wisdom to accumulate. Time reflects the way we choose to treat our environment and our people. It shapes what we choose to define as ourselves.
As a black immigrant and artist, working in a predominantly culturally white environment, my belonging is often questioned. How I see/perceive myself in this context, how I meet/confront people's perception of me, not only paints a picture of who I am, but simultaneously affects how other black, immigrants are perceived.
The kind of surface assumptions and the pre-judgement we make of others are common in mostcultures. In Kenya it’s about one’s tribe. There are more than 40 tribal groups in Kenya. I belong to the “Luhya'' tribe. In Kenya, my tribe gives others an idea of who I am, my strengths, my weaknesses, my nature and my appearance. With each tribe there is a set of characteristics that you are automatically associated with, being a member of that specific tribe.
These identities are tied to the history of Kenya and its 40 tribes. But also to the historic relationship of colonialistic pressures brought by the west, for example The United Kingdom, upon african nations. Kenya has been changed by time and by its relationship to the west. And, my relationship with my blackness, my africanness and my humanness has changed as I have immigrated from Kenya as a Luhya child to a norwegian adult.
