ARTCENA collects documentary resources for each text selected by Contxto network : an English-subtitled interview of the author and a documented file in English to help artistic groups who want to know more about those texts.
Eva Doumbia
Self-eaters
Translated by Amélia Parenteau
“Reading about thieboudienne (fish and rice), I discovered that Senegal’s national dish has only been eaten since the 18th century, and was probably brought over by European colonists. I wanted to find out more, and began learning about how tastes, smells, fragrances, and culinary pleasures are all mixed in with travel, conquest, dispossession, deportation, and slavery. I learnt that here too, history is all around us, in the food we eat. I wanted to move away from the African/European diametric within me, to look at other forms of exile. I met with others, and heard Japanese, Vietnamese, and American stories.” Eva Doumbia
The narrative takes place in a community hall, church, village square, or theatre. Believers (the audience and actors) have come together for a ceremony, a banquet and ritual rolled into one. Imagine it as being a commonplace ceremony, one that everyone knows, where all are familiar with the gestures, words, and songs.