Christoph Schlingensiefs Operndorf Afrika
Aino Laberenz/Aino Laberenz/Francis Kéré/Elfriede Jelinek/Sonja Lau

In February 2010, Christoph Schlingensief laid the foundation stone for Operndorf Afrika in Burkina Faso. An extensive illustrated book with over three hundred images is being published in 2020, the tenth anniversary of the “opera village”, offering an in-depth insight into the history of the project, based on the rich fund of archive material from the last ten years, which has been reviewed and reorganized from an artistic perspective. Starting with the first sketches showing Schlingensief’s initial thought processes, the book also includes photos of different phases of construction and life in the village today, providing information about the project’s background and the local cultural programme that has been in existence for many years. In addition to a previously unpublished text by Christoph Schlingensief on the vision of the opera village, there are contributions by Aino Laberenz, Francis Kéré, Elfriede Jelinek, and Sonja Lau, who seek to bridge the gap between the utopian idea of Operndorf and its actual implementation.

Christoph Schlingensief (1960–2010) was a German film, theatre, and opera director, author, and action artist.

Aino Laberenz is a managing partner of the non-profit Festspielhaus Afrika gemeinnützige GmbH and chair of the foundation Operndorf Afrika.

Mario Lombardo and his team have been responsible for the corporate identity of Operndorf Afrika since 2014.