A Lovely Construction Site + Echoes of Contemplation: Bathing Under Bombs
P.A.R.T.S. Graduation Festival MA STUDIOS
Double bill
Urtė Groblytė and Judith Dhondt
A Lovely Construction Site
I hold it my love don’t worry I am only hovering and it’s so quiet shh it’s oh so dark in my organs and then I am gone I need you to hold me baby for me to be gone I hold it I love it I love me with it if not my bones you wouldn’t be so love me in little slices cut me open so I keep bleeding and I am a body less is endless notice me take my hand what are we? Strangers when hands estranged un-break the heart if that’s what you call it Knowing oh my beloved chainsaw if only I could melt your heart
The project, which started as in memoriam to the tree, now lingers between disgust with and attraction to the tool that hurts. By working with a dangerous object, we question a desire that leaves you beside yourself, alloyed with fear and excitement. And so, we meet in a chain-full place – through flesh and voice – taste of metal. We converse with the object and metaphor of the chainsaw, till the distinction disappears.
A collaboration between Urtė Groblytė & Judith Dhondt that branches into two performances (Dust and A Lovely Construction Site) and is bound together by a shared reading and writing practice. Together they have created a soil to let their performative works bloom out off.
Rania Barhoumi
Echoes of Contemplation: Bathing Under Bombs
On a Friday night, following a day surrendered to the camera's gaze, our eyes relinquished control. After immersing ourselves in the timeless dance of existence, capturing the silent choreography of inanimate objects, we found ourselves steeped in the daily exhibition of motion that surrounds us. We walked through a gallery of unseen spirits with unadorned eyes, hair billowing shapeless in the wind, and the colourless collage of urban debris strewn about the streets.
Having spent the day capturing these motionless entities, just before projecting them to the point of exhaustion of observation, we retreated to a bath - the pivotal moment of reflection and transformation, where the boundaries between observer and observed blur into a singular, immersive experience.
A Lovely Construction Site
created by Urtė Groblytė & Judith Dhondt | in collaboration with Eleni Roberts, Iris Donders | performed by Urtė, Judith, Iris, Eleni | mentors Dolores Hulan, Stefa Govaert | music Lorenzo Higueras | dramaturgy Antoine Dupuy Larbre | assistance/scenography Vladimir Babinchuk Outerelo | special thanks to Philomène Jander, Eva Galmel, Désirée Cerocién, Ching Shu Huang
Echoes of Contemplation: Bathing Under Bombs
concept and performance Rania Barhoumi | in collaboration with and performed by Anne-Charlotte Bisoux, Antoine Coppi, Romane Rety, Mira Maria Studer | mentor Radouan Mriziga | feedback Youness Khoukhou | soundtrack Mira Maria Studer
Upon request of the STUDIOS students the ticket income of the performances will be entirely donated to Living Stipends for Palestine, an initiative from Mophradat, supporting Palestinian artists affected by the current crisis with a 6-month stipend.
Each evening, after the performances, there will be PARTS t-shirts and scarves for sale. The profit will go directly to the same fund.
More information about the stipend:
https://mophradat.org/en/program/living-stipends-for-palestine/