Were Were Liking, Ivory Coast
Multidisciplinary artist

One day, a Man decides to ask himself questions in front of a mirror (an audience),
To invent answers and, in front of this mirror (his audience),
To criticize oneself, to make fun of one's own questions and answers,
To laugh or to cry, it doesn't matter what, but in the end
To greet and bless the mirror (His audience)
For granting him this moment of spite and respite,
He bows and greets her to express his gratitude and respect...
Deep within him, he sought Peace,
Peace with himself and his mirror: He was doing theater...

That day, he spoke… Despising his flaws, paradoxes and distortions, Punishing himself through mimicry and contortions, The pettiness that stained his humanity, The cunning that brought cataclysms, He spoke for himself… Admiring himself in the unleashed momentum, In his aspirations towards grandeur, towards beauty, Towards a better man, a better world That he would build from his own thoughts, That he could mold with his own hands If from him to him in the mirror, he had wished it, he told himself, If he and his mirror shared the same wish… But he knows: he was making Representations Of mockery, undoubtedly of illusion, But, certainly, also of the mental action Of building, of re-creating the world, He was making Theater…

Even torpedoing all his hopes Through accusing words and gestures, He stubbornly believed That everything would come true in a single evening Through his crazy looks Through his sweet words Through his malicious smile Through his delicious humor Through his words that, even hurting or swaying, Operated a surgery for a miracle. Yes, he was acting.

And in general, in us, in Africa, especially in the Kamite part[1] Where I come from, We laugh at everything, even ourselves, We laugh at everything, even in mourning, when we cry, We hit the ground when it disappoints us. Through Gbegbé[2] or Bikoutis[3] We Carve Scary Glaé Masks[4], Wabele[5] or Ponyugo[6] To represent the immovable Principles That impose our cycles and times And puppets that, like us, End up representing their Creators And subjugating their manipulators. We conceive rites in which the spoken word Swollen by songs and rhythmic breathing Launches into the conquest of the sacred Provoking dances like a trance, Incantations and invocations of devotion, But above all laughter To celebrate the joy of living Which neither centuries of slavery and colonization, Of racism and discrimination, Nor endless times of unspeakable abuses Could neither stifle nor tear from us Our Spirit as Father and Mother of Humanity, In Africa, as everywhere in the world, We make theater.

And in this special year dedicated to ITI I am very happy and honored To represent our continent To carry forward the message of peace, the Message of Peace of the Theater, For this continent, about which it was said That anything can happen Without anyone feeling any pain or lack, Is once again recognized for its primary role As Father and Mother of Humanity, And the whole world comes here, Because everyone still hopes to find peace In the arms of their parents, right?

And so, our theater, more than ever, summons and engages all people, but especially all those who share its thought, word and theatrical action To more respect for themselves and for each other, Privileging the most precious humanistic values With the hope of achieving a better humanity for each: One that brings out intelligence and understanding Through this part of the most effective human cultures, The very one that erases all borders: theater… One of the most generous, because it speaks all languages, Involves all civilizations, reflects all ideals, Expressing a profound unity of all people who, Despite all confrontations, Seek above all to know each other better And to love each other better, in peace and calm, When representation becomes participation, Reminding us of the duty of action that the power of theater imposes on us to make everyone laugh and cry, together, Diminishing their ignorance, enriching their knowledge, so that man may once again become man's greatest wealth.

Our theater proposes the fundamental reexamination and reevaluation of all humanist principles, of all these high virtues, of all these ideas of peace and friendship between peoples So supported by UNESCO In order to embody them on the stages we create today, So that these ideas and principles may once again become an essential need And a profound thought especially of theater creators in the first place, Who will then be able to share it with their audience.

This is why our latest theatrical creation called "L'Arbre Dieu", which takes up Kindack's recommendations[7] Ngo Biyong Bi Kuban[8], our Master, says thus: „God is like a Great Tree Of which each can see only one aspect From the angle in which he stands: He who passes above the tree will see only its foliage And perhaps its seasonal fruits and flowers. He who lives underground knows only its roots. He who leans against the tree recognizes it Only by what he feels behind it. Those who come from every cardinal point Will see what those in front cannot see, The privileged will know the secret Between the bark and the pulp of the wood, While others, the intimate science of the tree's marrow, But regardless of the superficiality Or the depth of each one's perception, No one is ever at an angle from which He can perceive all aspects at once Unless he himself becomes that divine tree! But then are we still human?

May all theaters in the world tolerate and accept each other To better serve the global objective of ITI, So that finally, on this 70th anniversary, There may be more Peace in the world, Through the strong participation of Theater…

Translation: Ligia Soare

Biography – Were Were Liking, Ivory Coast

WEREWERE-LIKING GNEPO was born on May 1, 1950 in Bondé, Cameroon, but has lived in Côte d'Ivoire since 1978. She is a multidisciplinary artist. As a writer, she has published over thirty titles, from novels to plays, short stories, essays, art books and poetry... As a painter, from 1968 to the present, she has exhibited her works all over the world. In the theater, in addition to her acclaimed role as a playwright, she also stood out as an innovative puppeteer, staging numerous frescoes, all described as African operas, many of which have had world tours. She was also a theater and film actress, but also a rap singer...

A researcher in traditional pedagogical techniques at the University of Abidjan (ILENA) between 1979 and 1985, she participated in the ritual theatre revolution and initiated the artistic group Ki-Yi Mbock. She developed a special training system inspired by African initiations that allowed her to reach hundreds of young people in difficult situations, helping them to reintegrate into society in leadership positions. This earned her the Prince Clauss "Héros de la Ville" award in 2000. In 2001, she founded the Ki-Yi Pan-African Foundation for youth training and personal development through culture, in which she has been continuously involved ever since.

Her work has been rewarded with numerous awards, including the Arletty Prize from France, the René Praile Prize from Belgium, the Fonlon Nichols Prize from the University of Alberta in Canada, the title of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from France, the title of Commander of the National Order of Merit from Côte d'Ivoire. Member of the High Council of Francophonie from 1997 to 2003, the Noma Prize 2005 and Laureate of the Book of the Year in 2007 for her novel "La Mémoire Amputée", she is today a permanent member of the Academy of Sciences, Arts and Cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora, in Côte d'Ivoire.

[1]Kamite = inhabitant of Kamita, of the Land of the Blacks, the Continent which today is called "Africa". Kamite also designates all the natives and their descendants spread throughout the world, in the diaspora, as well as the practitioners of the original religion of this region.

[2]Gbégbé = in Ivory Coast, Gbégbé is a traditional dance of the Bétés tribe, appreciated in public manifestations of joy or mourning. Practiced in all the villages of the Bétés, the dance has spread beyond the central-western region of Ivory Coast.

[3]Bikoutsi: = a)Kout: to hit. b) Si: the earth. Dance originating from Fan Béti, in southern Cameroon, originally practiced by women who wanted to ask Mother Earth for something: rich harvests, better weather, the interruption of a series of tragic events, etc., in which the earth is vigorously hit, to make it listen to prayers. Today, it is very widespread, because it has been recovered by young people from all over the country and beyond its borders, through numerous international stars.

[4]Glaé: religious system of the Wè and Wobè inhabitants of western Ivory Coast, which is based on Masks. An entire hierarchy of Masks, often frightening, but on which all the beliefs and all the original social organization of these peoples are founded.

[5]Wabélé: one of the masks of the Sénoufo religious system of northern Ivory Coast. With its fire-breathing Hyena head, it represents knowledge and power. Symbol of the University Félix Houphouet Boigny, named after the first president of Ivory Coast.

[6]Poniugo: another mask of the Sénoufo religious system, which is based on Poro, the initiation into the sacred forest, which governs their entire society.

[7]Kindack = literally, "Mistress of Recommendations", a title given to Matrons. Women who have reached a certain level of wisdom through initiation into Mbock or Mbog, a religious system in the Bassa region of central Cameroon, which corresponds to the title of Mbombock, reserved for men. Ngo Biyong Bi

[8]Kuban = daughter of Biyong, son of Kuban. This is the name of my grandmother, my initiator, one of the last knowers of the wisdom of "KI-Yi Mbock", which I have been tasked with transmitting, and which I have been working on for over three decades.