Alix Konadu (Brussels, 1992) is an artist, actress and performer. The idea of "borders" forms the basis of Konadu’s artistic research and conception. She tentatively approaches borders from different perspectives, both theoretically and physically. How does a body influence and interact with its surroundings? Which boundaries are imposed on the body within a given space? What additional dimensions are laid on top of this by the legacy of colonialism and its lasting effects on populations whose borders it has defined? Through her artistic practice, Konadu explores how the mutual influence between body and place can transform or blur these borders.
Konadu’s residency at Moussem in Brussels takes place concurrently with the perfocraZe International Artist Residency (pIAR) in Kumasi, Ghana, a residency led by a trans woman who connects the local queer community and the Ghanaian population through art. Through this combination of residencies, Konadu hopes to build, strengthen and anchor her theoretical and formal artistic research in both home countries in order to integrate her Ghanaian identity into her work.
Central in her research is the Ashanti culture, which—by keeping certain traditions alive—delineates the borders of the former sovereign state of Ashanti. Kumasi provides a dually fertile ground for Konadu's research, as it is both the capital of the Ashanti Kingdom, and the place where Konadu’s Ghanaian family has lived for generations.
"Through a deeper understanding of the richness and history of Ashanti culture, I hope to develop into an artist who creates from a multilayered identity. In doing so, I want to explore artistic, non-Western frames of reference, which will also shape my research at Moussem," says Konadu.
In 2016, Alix Konadu found her professional start as an actress in a television series on Flemish broadcaster VRT. After a series of projects in television, theater and film, Konadu chose to further develop herself as a contemporary artist and performer, a conscious and self-chosen path she would continue to follow during her subsequent studies. In 2020 Konadu graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Institut Supérieur des Arts et Chorégraphies (ISAC) in Brussels, where she pursued a theatermaker's course with a focus on choreography and movement in the public space.
In 2017, Konadu worked with the collective Divadlo Continuo on the location performance In the Circle, set in a castle moat in the Czech Republic. From 2018 to 2021, she was an associate artist at the international performance collective Duende, with which she created and played several performances in Athens. During this period she also appeared in the feature film Binti by Frederike Migom and various television series, such as Loslopend Wild (VRT). In 2019, she performed in Mensen Dragen Dingen by Lotte Boonstra at the Over Het IJ festival in Amsterdam. In that same year, Konadu founded the collective Omelett with musician Ben Tanghe, with which they make and perform children's performances at various venues throughout Belgium. In 2022, Konadu played in Paola Pisciottano's Extrême/Malecane in Italy and Belgium. At the Mechelen-based multidisciplinary arts collective Socha, Konadu continues to experiment with different registers within the performing arts, ranging from directing to acting.
Broken Home, My Shrine
The spark for investigating borders comes from a need to discuss the struggles and triumphs of people with a migration background, often addressing issues of identity, displacement, and the search for belonging.
Borders - How do we create them, shift them, break them, redefine them?
During her residency at pIAR in Kumasi (Ghana), Alix documented objects and people within specific boundaries. The next step was a residency period in the Moussem Studios, where she focused on borders as a perception of safety. A prison. A home. A belief.
At Alkantara, Alix will continue to work on the material and will organize an exchange of snippets and thoughts with an audience for the first time.
The boundaries of where I belong. The boundaries of my home.
Home as a shrine.
Home in a traveling object.
Home as a mood.
Home as a feeling.
— Alix Konadu
Photo: Asiome 2.0
