Performance @Symbiotics Festival / Treehouse NDSM in collaboration with Hetmoet publishers

Symbiotic Encounters is a 2-day performative art festival consisting of 8 performances conceived by Treehouse’s international artists-in-residence specially for the event, as well as an exhibition and an evening of live music.

The Treehouse community can be seen as a microcosmos composed of creatives from many different disciplines. Treehouse’s aim is to provide the best possible conditions for fruitful artistic cooperation to occur, inviting its creatives to step out of their individual practices to reflect on collective efforts. Can we put aside the excessive emphasis on competition we inherited from Darwinism and focus instead on interdependence to imagine different futures? What new ideas and approaches can originate from these interactions and exchanges?

The visitors will choose between 2 journeys, each of them including 4 multi-disciplinary performances. Before or after the journey, the audience is invited to visit the exhibition The Power of Collaboration, which includes 9 pieces from local artists.

I collaborated with Elte Rauch from HetMoet publishing. She was the voice and I the sculptor: We based the gathering around a book by Sinead o'Gleeson: Constellations. Audience could walk - sit lie or touch the soft installation: seemingly bodyparts, organs, the mother of all creatures: the womb. They were encouraged to use their senses whilst listening to the essays and poems and they were given blindfolds. 

PROGRAMME OF THE WHOLE FESTIVAL:

1st journey on 15th October at 15h (SOLD OUT) and on 16th October at 18h*

The connection by Rika Maja Duevel, Elizaveta Agrafenina & Ischico Velzel: an exploration of the interconnectedness and translations between music and painting.

The Electro Genocide Revolution, a theatrical audio play by Visionair Ordinair. Imagine all electronic music has disappeared from the face of the earth.

Codo a codo by Rose Wildsmith & Kris Gonzalez: intuitive painting techniques, the power of gravity and music work together as an attempt to explore and materialise a synergetic process.

Unleashing Your Demons: An exorcism guided by Hessel Du Mark: if you have an excess collection of demons in your heart that you want to unleash, Hessel Du Mark will be your spiritual guide in this beautiful hip-hop ritual.

2nd journey on 15th of October at 18h and on 16th October at 15h*

Earthitude: a rite of remembrance by Yuk Lin and Philip Ling & Daria Fedorchenko: an immersive installation in the form of a ceremony, a reminder that we are a non-detachable part of our planet.

Constellations by Elte Rauch & Lies Aris: based on Sinéad Gleeson's book by the same name, the artists reflect on life, the (female) body, pain and perfection.

Lullaby for a Slow Apocalypse by Show Pony (Laura Nygren, Tatiana Rosa, Simon van Steenis & Alisson Wright): what if the end of the world is not the singular dramatic event we imagine but rather a glacial-paced transformation? It can still be scary but we can be comforted on the journey.

Visible Sounds - Where metal meets light. by Deniz Kavafoglu, Joris Cohen & Carolina Dorel: Electric light dance show with vibrant and meditative music

 

The Consent - large tactile sculpture as part of Collaboration Expo

The large tactile sculpture The Consent, by Judith Segers and me addresses the collaborative aspect of physical nearness between humans. Touching is a dialogue. Physical communication is a form of collaborating. 
How to respect boundaries? What to do in the grey area between a ‘yes and a no’? How to interpret silence? Those are questions that have led to the creation of this sculpture: a large colorful poof, that functions as a sort of a ‘play blanket’ for adults. 

The kickstart for our collaboration in this sculpture, was an article that cached our attention. It brought the news that in Spain in the summer of 2022 the government took on a new law, following other countries where the ‘yes-yes-rule’ was already made legal. A perpetrator may now be prosecuted for rape if the victim has not resisted. This new law also introduces the concept of 'incidental harassment' into the Criminal Code. 'Communications, behavior or sexual or sexist proposals' that put the victim in an 'objectively humiliating, hostile or intimidating' situation are therefore considered an offence. 

 

The ‘rules’ we grow up with being girls, are in a way infuriating. The judgements and female unfriendly reactions towards unacceptable behavior. 

‘She was asking for it…’ 

‘She didn’t say No’. 

‘She shouldn’t have cycled that silent path that late at night.’ 

The preparations many of us had to take care of: putting on our extra wide hoodies and our body curves covering clothes. Cycling home at night with the bike chain in our hands, ready to be able to strike back, and more.

And of cause we are not just talking about harassment towards women, but also children and men. 

 

We invite you to plunge into our sculpture, and test what you want to do. 

 

 

Part of The Power of Collaboration expo at Treehouse NDSM

Exhibition opening times: Thursday to Sunday from 12h to 18h 

The Power of Collaboration is a month-long exhibition taking place at Treehouse NDSM, in which local artists address the immense potential -and nuances- of collective thought and action. The group show features 9 projects, as well as a series of lectures and workshops. We welcome you to the exhibition’s opening on September 15th at 18h.

Treehouse NDSM is an arts incubator located in Amsterdam’s creative heart. Our goal is to foster the growth of creatives from diverse disciplines and help them bring their projects to life. We do this by offering 105 individual and affordable studios for rent, access to exhibition spaces, and the opportunity of being part of a vibrant artistic community.

The Power of Collaboration attempts to move away from the (Western) focus on the individual and reflect on the vast network of connections and interactions at the base of any transformative action. Within a community (be that human, more-than-human or both), members collaborate for protection, nutrition, or just for help to get around. Even the smallest cooperation can have enormous implications and can drive the force of change needed to tackle the most urgent issues.

But these exchanges do not occur without tension. How do we navigate the strain between individuality and collectivity? What are the boundaries that we set for ourselves or are set for us? What are the conditions for real dialogue to take place? What would true interspecies cohabitation look like if we were to defy anthropocentric narratives based on domination?

Participating artists: Brechtje van Dk, Liesje van den Berk, Kam Seng Aung, Joshua Weitzel, Sam Tsao, Bruna Souza, Marte van Haaster, Antrianna Moutoula and Ella Tighe, Lies Aris and Judith Segers, Margot Domart, Adriana Rhode and Esther Kin.