ᴏᴍɴɪ ᴛᴏxɪᴄᴀ

OMNI TOXICA is a journalistic and forensic performative ritual on the history of Coca and how it passed from being a green, sacred, medicinal plant into a whitewashed, capitalist, toxic product: cocaine. The project borrows strategies from journalism, spiritism, narco culture, alchemy and activism to construct a dystopian laboratory. Here the politics of death behind what we call the Coca-Cocaine complex are revealed as the continuation of a neo-colonial order in place. In OMNI TOXICA the coca plant machiavellizes its own court case while shedding light on the incoherent gap between justice and legality, between wellness and toxicity that overshadows this whole multibillion-dollar industry.

“OMNI TOXICA traces the history of coca: from the magical green plant of the indigenous people to the whitewashed and capitalist daughter, cocaine. “There is a beautiful analogy between the coca plant and colonialism, because the coca is a plant that has gone through this process of colonization: of being stolen, extracted, killed and white-washed for the sake of profit.” Through the history of coca, Chaves shows how neocolonialism works: “how illegal economies and legal economies are intertwined, connected and maybe not so different.”

Art as an Explosive Device: An Interview with Paula Chaves: www.veem.house/EN/news/interview-paula-chaves

“In de performance komen veel grote thema’s zoals kapitalisme, neoliberalisme, transfeminisme en neokolonialisme aan bod. Het ontbreekt hierdoor af en toe aan focus, maar dat staat de performance niet in de weg. Het is juist de bedoeling dat je je er compleet ontheemd bij voelt.” - Amsterdam Alternative

Omni Toxica: Een Radicaal nieuwe geschiedenis over cocaine / Omni Toxica: a radical counter history over cocaine: www.amsterdamalternative.nl/articles/8929

Credits

Concept & Artistic Direction
Paula Chaves Bonilla
Choreography
Thais Di Marco & Paula Chaves Bonilla
Performance
Nadia Bekkers, Karina Villafan & Paula Chaves Bonilla
Visual Artist / Scenographer
Natalia Sorzano
Sound Artist
Nadia Bekkers
Dramaturgy / Artistic Advice
Rodrigo Batista
Research
Natalia Chaves López & Paula Chaves Bonilla
Light Design & Technical Support
Dana Claasen
Produced by
Veem House for Performance & Productiehuis Theater Rotterdam