Pankaj Tiwari CAMPO
The Harvest of Broken Promises
How do we remember the land once it stops feeding us? Can theatre capture the smell of soil, the ache of labour, or the true weight of a harvest?
At the heart of The Harvest of Broken Promises is a simple yet urgent image: a piece of land that no longer remembers how to sustain itself. Born into a farming family, theatre-maker Pankaj Tiwari revisits his memories of the traditional, sustainable agricultural practices of his youth, and reflects on their gradual disappearance over the past three decades. Since moving to Europe in 2019, Tiwari has observed local farming practices first-hand. Despite being on a different continent, he sees similar struggles, albeit marked by a distinct gap in time.
In The Harvest of Broken Promises, Tiwari interweaves video footage, interviews, visual art, and folk tales. By blending his own history with the stories of farmers from across India and Europe, his play captures the profound tension between aspiration and survival. Tiwari’s narrative serves as a mirror for a generation caught between the glittering promises of progress, and the steady loss of ancestral knowledge.
• Pankaj Tiwari is a contemporary artist, theatre maker, writer and curator from Balrampur, India. He is currently based in Amsterdam and holds a master's degree in theatre from DAS Theatre Amsterdam. His works bring Eastern perspectives to the Western discourse on socio-political issues. Pankaj is also the winner of the 3Package Deal award (2021-22) from the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts. Between 2020 and 2023, he worked as a curator for Gessnerallee Zurich. He is now the artistic director of Stichting Studio Current in Amsterdam. Both today and in the past, Pankaj's work has been invited and supported by several festivals and production houses. These include Steirischer Herbst Graz (2025), MC93 Bobigny (2025), Theater Rotterdam (2025), Kaaitheater Brussels (2024), DE SINGEL Antwerp (2023, 2024), Grand Theatre Groningen (2020, 2023, 2024). In 2024 Pankaj Tiwari previously appeared at the Kaaitheater in the production PaperPlanes, alongside Nick Verstand.
concept, creation & text Pankaj Tiwari | performance Pankaj Tiwari | music Nazanin Yalda | video, sound & interviews Prabhash Chandra | video & scenography Pol Heyvaert | dramaturgy Maria Dogahe | technique Laurens Claas | production CAMPO | co-production Internationales Sommer Festival Kampnagel (Hamburg), Theaterfestival Boulevard (‘s-Hertogenbosch), Kaaitheater (Brussels), MC93 (Bobigny), Studio Current (Amsterdam) & Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst | with the support of the taxshelter of the Belgian Federal Government via uFund & Het Cultuurfonds
Tickets
Good to know
This performance involves smoke.
