Day 3: Finals | Performative Experiments by Y1 students

Simplified Chinese by Qiyun Zheng

15:30 Theatrium (Durational Pre-performance )

17:30 Zaal 3 (Performance)

汉字(Hàn Zì) - Chinese characters are a combination of graph, meaning, and sound since the 13th century BC. In the 19th century, the traditional characters were blamed for China’s economic problems. The first modern Chinese simplification list was issued in 1964 after discussions of completely abolishing Chinese characters. In 1982, with popularizing the standard spoken Chinese being written into the constitution, dialects were noticeably dying.

In this performance, and through conversations in different Chinese dialects with her grandmothers born in the 1940s, who witnessed the simplification and the switch from Russian-heat to English-heat; with her mother born in the 70s who studied Russian in university but couldn’t afford studying abroad; Qiyun, born in 2001 who grew up unaware of this language revolution history, and graduated from English-Chinese Translation BA last year, gives an ode to what is/could have been lost through simplification, standardization, and globalization, despite the pros of efficiency, unity, and convenience.

Once, the driving force for the Hàn Zì revolutions was purely calligraphers’ artwork aesthetics.

Once, dialects nurtured a pool of lively vocabulary and regional cultures.

Once, a language was born to be spoken, written, and seen, and once it was (almost) abolished.

Once, we all took our mother/father/... language systems for granted.

Credits:

Sound materials from conversations with Jingsheng Lv, Zhuxian Li, Yu Ji

Image: Qiyun Zheng

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Relovution by Eleuftheria Sokratous

18:15 at Studio 4

A performance lecture that deals with the subject of love as an attempt to offer different terms/images connected to it, with the aim to subvert its commodification and reclaim its political potential. If we agree that the personal is political, what can be more political than love?

Concept/Performance: Eleftheria Sokratous

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From Wind Through Time To Stone by Feli Navarro

19:00 at Zaal 2

In the geological processes of ‘weathering’, rocks deteriorate and break down into smaller pieces as a result of their contact with wind, heat, water, atmospheric gases, and other agents. The new fragments and sediments become potential raw material for other rocks and soil and await for movement to emerge in order to shapeshift.

‘From Wind Through Time To Stone’ is a more-than-human invitation to explore motion and transformation in multiple timeframes. It is a multilayered playground for intra-acting and co-creating. It is a place to “weather-with” stones, make sense together and, perhaps, find something out.

Performance: Feli Navarro

Performers, Light, Sound & Video: Mar Esteban Martín, Clàudia Ferrando, Tania González, Lisa Hofmann, Feli Navarro, Clio Van Aerde