Wax Traders - Bregenz Festival Theatre

WAX TRADERS tells the story of two daring women on the West Coast of Africa who skillfully assert themselves in global markets during times of political upheaval, navigate colonial structures, and defy stark inequalities. They encounter two traders who are seeking their fortune on the so-called "Gold Coast" on behalf of the Basel Trading Company. Together, they create a market for "African Wax Prints" – brightly printed cotton fabrics developed by Dutch and Swiss textile companies by copying Indonesian patterns and printing techniques.

In their new musical theater piece, Bertschy and Kossakamvwe collaborate with a truly transnational ensemble of artists from Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Switzerland. Inspired by traditional storytelling forms and supported by a choir of three women, they create an expansive ballad about the centuries-old trade relationships between the European textile industry and its customers in West Africa, telling a piece of colonial history.

WAX TRADERS is a production of GROUP50:50, co-produced with the Vorarlberg State Theater and Kaserne Basel. Funded by: the Dance & Theater Committee of Basel-Stadt / Basel-Landschaft, Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Cultural Foundation, the Ernst Göhner Foundation, the Landis & Gyr Foundation, and the Anne-Marie Schindler Foundation. With the support of: Oskar Hämmerle GmbH and HOH Hoferhecht Embroideries in Lustenau.