“This is a revolution”: First Mining Opera in History celebrates its Premiere!
“The first opera about the Congolese mining industry, developed with those affected and performed at one of the largest opera houses in the world: for me as a Congolese artist, this is a revolution.”
Serge Kakudji
With the Congolese-European opera production JUSTICE, Milo Rau, Fiston Mwanza Mujila, Hèctor Parra and their team are challenging the opera genre: JUSTICE is not only the first Congolese-European music theatre production of this magnitude – it is the first opera ever about the mining industry, premiering in Geneva, the world’s largest commodity exchange centre and one of the birthplaces of international human rights.
But with JUSTICE, Mujila, Parra and Rau are not just staging the question of justice, they are realising it: To coincide with the premiere, they are launching a crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with Congolese and Swiss NGOs and lawyers to finally bring justice to those affected by the crimes portrayed.
The premiere will be live performed by hundreds of singers and instrumentalists (conductor: Titus Engel), including the iconic bass baritone Willard White, the Kolwezi born counter tenor Serge Kakudji, the Congolese guitar player Kojack Kossakamvwe and the librettist himself, Booker prize nominee Fiston Mwanza Mujila.
“This opera is an act against forgetting as well as a demonstration in favour of the truth. A call for justice and a bridge between the continents.”
Fiston Mwanza Mujila
22 January 2024 Grand Théâtre de Genève
18:00 Press conference
20:00 Premiere JUSTICE
Press conference with Serge Kakudji (singer), Fiston Mwanza Mujila (librettist), Hèctor Parra (composer), Milo Rau (director), Johannes Wendland (HEKS), Céline Tshizena (Afrewatch), Josue Kashal (CAJJ).