Historically, paternalism has been a tool used by colonial power to impose violence on the global south. From the Catholic Church during the Spanish invasion of the territories of Abya Yala, narrating the inquisition as an act of supposed civilization and evangelization, to the most recent invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the imposed violence has often gone unpunished thanks to the paternalistic discourse of the supposed liberation and care of the peoples of these territories.

Performed at the foot of the “Monument aux Pioners du Congo” in Brussels, the puppet show The Weeping Forest and the Okapi’s Resistance tells the story of an Okapi who organises with other animals, spirits and human anti-colonial fighters to confront the paternalistic narratives of supposed development, of the so-called R2P “responsibility to protect”, and of humanitarian and economic aid to so-called “developing countries”, policies that are continually imposed in the territories of the global south to ensure the prolongation of the colonial order. The same colonial order that Belgium imposed on the current Democratic Republic of the Congo during the period of control, exploitation, persecution and massacre of territories and peoples, under a narrative that presented Leopold II as a “philanthropist” to inflict violence with the impunity that perpetuates colonial paternalism, an impunity that the Okapi and his comrades will face.

The play was presented at the Kunstenfestivaldesarts theatre festival in Brussels 2022

Script and Direction: Daniela Ortiz - French, English and Dutch voice-over: Nabil Lajluf - Performers: Christine Devadder and Nabil Lajluf

Sewing Work: Antonia Molina - Wood Work: Rafael Toys