One morning in Ruru and Suka’s town everyone wakes up speaking in a new voice that they themselves cannot understand and panic begins to take hold of the town. Ruru and Suka go to investigate the cause of this catastrophe and to restore their lands. The conniving and deceptive alien Larynx offers to be their guide on their journey through a treacherous forest. After a life changing journey they ask for the restoration of their lands and are deceived into accepting the transformed landscape as their new reality. Their only consolation is the five nights before the sowing of cotton, when their lands temporarily transform into their beloved Cosmic Cradle.
White Gold is part of a long term research project about the history of Cotton Farming in India. Since 1995, 400,000 farmer suicides have taken place in India. The Cotton Farming community is the worst affected by this wave of suicides that are a result of complex social, economic and political reasons. Cotton was proverbially called White Gold in the commodity market.
The reenactment is prefaced by an introductory lecture to contextualise the performance. As a part of the performance, collective reading sessions and a small exhibition is also being organised.
Made with Sipan Tekin, Yunus Bilir, Julia van der Putten, Naomi Broms, George Demitriou and Laura Boser.
2023