11.11.11 Materiality of [Contained] Exiles


The ‘dancing princesses’ (the name we gave the original 11 sculptures/installation figures ) went to Miami and then were schedule to remerge in San Antonio as part of the scheduled festival Decolonizing Dance.  As many events it has now been postponed until 2021.

In dialogue with FARO, the artist-organization that was part of the festival production, we agreed to create an alternative installation, using electronic/remote platforms.  Conceptually, the new ‘strand’ aims to explore the dynamics of exile crossings  in relation to our new  dynamics of ‘containment’.  What possible dialogues can occur when these two conditions meet?  What new identity/spatial narratives arise from this dynamic? What new modes of collaborative practice can emerge from this encounter?

This has led to the creation of two further strands, 11 international women artists and 11 international men artists have been invited to  ‘take a princess for a walk’.  Each artist has been paired with one of the Joshua Tree participants through the 11-minute audio/soundscore, narrating the story of one of the Latinx women.  They have been invited to follow simple choreographic tasks based on the number 11. These are not dance tasks, any movement behaviour in any location is possible, what we are interested is in the negotiation of the task in particular spatial conditions, particularly those that we are facing due to the need to ‘contain’.  The challenge is to record the ‘walk',  is it inside because onecan’t go out? Is it a public space but wearing a mask?  Are the streets crowded?  Empty?   I am feeling to see what dialogues across the imaginary space of the crossing (where motion across terrains was possible) in the soundscore and our new realities since containment has been put in place can emerge.  How are we navigating these new ‘spaces’ that feel like an absence of space? How does the familiar space of our homes acquire new meanings, new embodiments, new spatial practices?

The twenty two  videos will be turned into an electronic installation available through here www.materialityofexile.blogspot.com and through a vimeo showcase in Theatre enCorps vimeo channel as well as FARO’s new site to be launched soon.

The artists are:

Clara Yang in the Lakota Reservation in South Dakota (USA)
Amber Ortega San Antonio, Texas (USA)
Niurca Marquez, Miami, Florida, (USA)
Damaris Ferrer, Miami, Florida (US)
Eleonora Dall'Asta, Panama City (PANAMA)
Demy Papathanassiou, Athens (GREECE)
Belen Maya, Rome (ITALY)
Nadra Assaf, Byblos (LEBANON)
Naporn Praew Wattanakasaem, Bangkok (THAILAND)
Hyekyung Yang, Seoul (S. KOREA)
Francyne Carr, Beijing (CHINA)

Kostas Anastasiadis, Athens (GREECE)
Jing Wong, Hong Kong (CHINA)
Jimmy Bechara, Byblos, (LEBANON)
Paolo Panizza, Milan (ITALY)
Rasmus Kaljujärv, Tallinn (ESTONIA)
John-Paul Zaccarini, Stockholm (SWEDEN)
Benjamin Richter, Berlin (GERMANY)
Hector Machado, Miami, Fl (USA) 
Bill Aitchison, Xiamen (CHINA)
Seo-Hwon JI, Seoul (S. KOREA)

Here is a first experiment of what is evolving:

Paolo will walk with Vicky but meanwhile sent Ana on a walk from Theatre enCorps on Vimeo.