The tobacco plant! From the 17th century to the present day, tobacco has been one of the most important commodities traded worldwide and has created empires. How could one of the oldest medicinal plants and sacred crop of many indigenous American peoples become a deadly mass product and turn 1.1 billion people into addicted smokers?

The Greek Community of Cologne is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and is drawing attention to the rich history of tobacco with ‘Tabak Stories: Just breathe’. Many of the older Greeks living in Cologne today worked in tobacco growing in Greece as young people and emigrated to Germany in the 1950s due to the harsh living and working conditions. The performance was created in collaboration with them, members of the Greek community in Cologne and the artists’ collective Diphthong. Embedded in the global history of tobacco, the piece places a special focus on its significance for the Greek population – including refugees from Asia Minor – and the concrete consequences for their respective biographies. This enables the audience to take an unusual look at the subject of tobacco and smoking in a deconstruction that is sensitive to power, culture and grief.