MEMENTO MORI! !IROM OTNEMEM

After a series of encounters with the Brussels homeless person ‘ACM’, Els Dietvorst wrote Ik ga naar mijn kippen (I’m going to my chickens). The text was a sequel to three documentaries that she made about the life of this philosopher-drifter and his struggle for a dignified existence. Two years later, when Dietvorst was working on one of her Skull sculptures for the Moscow Biennale, her brother lay dying. This inspired her to write Driftwood, a text about the fragility of life and dealing with death.

MEMENTO MORI! !IROM OTNEMEM brings these two texts together. The first is performed by Dirk Roofthooft, one of Flanders’ most iconic actors, and the second by the talented young Brussels actress Aurelie Di Marino. The first monologue mirrors the second. As a diptych, they reflect on themes such as individualism, globalization and migration, as well as the alienation and disenchanted world to which they lead.

• Art and life are inextricably linked in the work of Els Dietvorst. Both in her films and in her visual work, she consistently expresses profound social commitment. Since she moved to a sheep farm in Ireland, nature, life and death have played an increasingly prominent role in her work. Her recent work includes the documentaries The Rabbit and the Teasel and I watched the white dogs of the dawn. MEMENTO MORI!, her first theatre production, premiered at the Kaaistudios last season. After touring around Flanders, the production is now returning to our stage.