Zizi Zozio is a performance by Marvin M’Toumo, an artist and designer trained at Villa Arson and HEAD – Genève, whose work bridges theatre, fashion and poetry.
The title harks back to childhood in Guadeloupe and a long-cherished dream of living among pelicans. In a language that blends storytelling, breath, cries and song, the performer embodies a bird – a hybrid, sensitive figure – his alter ego. Covered in feathers, he speaks of violence, sex, memory, wounds and survival, balancing between rage and tenderness, outcry and silence. He speaks of the self and of community, of issues of gender and race, “as authentically as possible”, he says. “Without trying to offend, I use art as a space for doubt and reconciliation, to express what can’t be said elsewhere.”

This show alludes to/addresses the topics of sexual violence, child abuse, and homophobia within the family.

----------
Saturday 13 September, after the performance (open to all)
Post-performance discussion with Fiona Bourdon (iel), sexologist and psychotraumatologist.

How should we respond to stories of sexual and LGBTphobic violence in the performing arts?

Zizi Zozio seeks to open up a necessary dialogue, to bring to light an intimate and collective memory that is often stifled. In the form of a poetic and dreamlike testimony, the show addresses different forms of violence, homophobia, sexual violence and violence against children. When faced with a testimony of violence, whether artistic or direct, we are not all equal in our ability and resources to receive and digest these stories, which can sometimes echo our own personal histories, in a more or less violent way.
Following the final performance of Marvin M'Toumo's Zizi Zozio, TU and the Hibiscus company invite those who feel the need to do so to a collective discussion on the reception of stories of sexual violence and LGBTphobic discrimination in the context of live art performances, in the presence of sexologist and psychotraumatologist Fiona Bourdon.
This discussion will not be a group therapy session, but rather a time for mediation to better understand how these issues of individual violence are part of our collective heritage and dynamics.