papaya, live performance, 2022, BSL interpreted 45 min performance (original music, dance, performance arts, text, costume) followed by a communal dinner
photo credit: Ayesha Jones

In Luxembourg (2023) we worked with

Concept and artistic direction : Jennifer Lopes Santos, melissandre varin, Eric G. Foy
Performance : Jennifer Lopes Santos et melissandre varin
Music : Eric G.Foy
Text : melissandre varin
Costume: Jennifer Lopes Santos
Light design : Nina Schaeffer
Set design & documentation : Shade Cumini
Choreographer and regard extérieur : Georges Maikel Pires Monteiro
Spiritual creative care coordinator : Sym Mendez
Photo : Ayesha Jones
Communication : Laure Rousset Constans

Production : FINKAPE asbl
Coproduction : Centre Culturel Kulturfabrik (LU)
Chargée de production : Léa Wiplier - BEAST Production (LU)
Avec le soutien de : Ministère de la Culture (LU), Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte (LU), SACEM Luxembourg (LU), FrEsch 2022 (LU), TROIS C-L - Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois (LU), Warwick Arts Centre (UK), Coventry Biennial (UK), Coventry UK City of Culture Trust (UK)


In Coventry (2022) we worked with

Emotional support/ therapist: Karen Dhlamini
BSL interpreters: Deborah McLeod & Lorraine Gregory from BSL Interpreters of Colour Network
set designer: charl vinz
Workshop facilitators:
Sym Mendez and Samiir Saunders
Photographer: Ayesha Jones
Videographer: Dwain Daley
Community manager: Nyasha Daley
Evaluators: Japhet Dinganga and Lina Damoah
Catering: Caribbean restaurant Leave It To Esmie based in Coventry’s Fargo Village
Carpenter: John Tiernan
Plant nursery: Russells Garden Centre

(Black) liberation? workshop, Warwick Arts Centre, UK 2022

Papaya (2019-2023)

Transmuting physical, disciplinary, and ideological boundaries PAPAYA mixes dance, text, sound, installation, textile, and performance art.
Papaya was an artist and activist-led Afro-Feminist performance investigating Black liberation, intimacy, and tenderness. Across borders the collective asked themselves: How to create, nurture, and share conditions for (self)love beyond anti-Blackness? Through live performances the artists attempted to raise questions from their respective autobiographical standpoints.
Papaya was led by UK-based artist, melissandre varin (writer and performer), Jennifer Lopes Santos (dancer, and costume designer), and Eric Foy (musician and composer) from Luxembourg and Belgium.

co-produced by Kutlturfabrik and anti-racist association Finkapé (Luxembourg) . Funders: Ministère de la Culture (LU), Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte (LU), SACEM Luxembourg (LU), FrEsch 2022 (LU), TROIS C-L - Centre de Création Chorégraphique Luxembourgeois (LU).
Photo : performance with soil and a photo of Papaya collective
Credit: Black Magic Tea

Credit: Ayesha Jones

Credit: Ayesha Jones

Credit: Ayesha Jones

Credit: Ayesha Jones