Interviews and Conversations

Abstract

Juma and Epona met in autumn 2022. At the time Epona, along with Nara Virgens and Melmun Bajarchuu, was curating an event1 on the topic of sustainability in transnational cooperation in performing arts, to which Juma was invited as a guest speaker. Since then, they have continued their conversation and exchanged their perspectives. A recurring topic in their conversation is the question of decentralizing power dynamics in the global performing arts scene, on the backdrop of climate change and unequal distribution of resources. As an Indigenous artist and activist from Pindorama (colonially known as Brazil), Juma's perspective is informed not only through her locality within a global performing arts scene but by the knowledge they carry and the challenges they are facing stemming from her (human and non-human) Indigenous coexistence. Based in Berlin, Epona works in the performing arts field as a producer and curator and has gained varied experience in transnational cooperation in recent years. Her critical approach has been informed by her Lebanese heritage within European contexts and by being a mother to her daughter.