2023 marked the 70th anniversary of the first transnational adoption from South Korea and the critical voices of adoptees have never been louder. In Be thankful, they said, the international artistic team around Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim humorously re-appropriates clichéd adoption narratives, confronts the erasure of their identities and shows how those affected reclaim their own stories.

Based on interviews with experts, artists and activists from the South Korean diaspora, who were themselves adopted as children into Western countries, the performance traces the aftermath of a history of global entanglements that still receives little attention. A history that was not only characterized by charity and humanitarian aid intentions, but also by the reproduction of colonial structures, white savior fantasies, patriarchal oppression, forced migration and human trafficking. How do transnational adoptees reflect on their childhood in retrospect? And what political demands arise today from the lived experience of transnationally adopted people?

Be thankful, they said is a multidisciplinary artistic exploration of (pop) cultural and media images of transnational adoption and the real individual perspectives of the people affected.

INFORMATION ON ACCESSIBILITY

Artistic direction, choreography: Olivia Hyunsin KimDance: Daniel Jeremiah Persson, Sunniva Vikør EgenesVideo design, lighting: Jones SeitzStage: Soojin OhCostumes: Kristin GerwienSound artist: Tatiana HeumannTechnical direction: Gretchen BlegenDramaturgy: Maria Rößler Outside eye: Lena Sunhee MeierkordAccess consulting: Hyemi JoleeProduction management: ehrliche arbeit – freelance cultural officeTranscriptions, assistant director: Mel BrinkmannGraphic design: Christian CattelanDGS interpreting in tandem: Hyemi Jolee, Aniella TiedjeAudio description in tandem: Hannah Aldinger & N.N.Thanks to: kimura byol lemoine, Mirae Kate Rhee, Vic So Hee Alz a.o.

A production by Olivia Hyunsin Kim/ddanddarakim in co-production with Sophiensæle. Supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and with funds from the Capital Cultural Fund. Thanks to Uferstudios, PSR Kollektiv and Theaterhaus Berlin. Media partners: Berlin Art Link, Missy Magazine, Siegessäule, taz.

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