Shadows and Passages
Residency at DAIS, Ishinomaki, Japan, (July 31-August 13), leading up to performance at Theatre Kinematica, August 10th 2024
Performance by LATERNA// Inger-Reidun Olsen & Marianne Skjeldal in collaboration with Camilla Waxels Riser.
Photos: DAIS Ishinomaki
Residency at DAIS, Ishinomaki, Japan, (July 31-August 13), leading up to performance at Theatre Kinematica, August 10th 2024
Performance by LATERNA// Inger-Reidun Olsen & Marianne Skjeldal in collaboration with Camilla Waxels Riser.
Photos: DAIS Ishinomaki
At DAIS we had abundant access to bamboo in the forest. Together with Camilla Wexels Riser, we harvested bamboo on the property and cut it to size, so that she and LATERNA together, could build an object with bamboo, from local, organic materials, and without the use of chemicals. Camilla also used some ink, rice paper and thread to build the object, a kind of “cloud”, which LATERNA treated physically through our performance, developed at DAIS and shared with the audience at Theatre Kinematika - outdoors in the area around the theater.
We invited the audience for a gentle, silent walk through the streets, past a temple and back to the backyard of the theater where we started, using our bodies, movement and voice, as a silent anthem,or hymn, as we walked and carried, lifted and moved this fragile bamboo cloud.
Maron Shibukawa, who writes art criticism, who was also a participant in R6 as an artist, wrote this in his reading of LATERNA´s contribution:
"Marianne, iRo, and Camilla performed a ritualistic performance using sculptures made from bamboo. iRo and Marianne built a close relationship with the bamboo by weaving through the gaps in the sculptures and shaping their bodies to match the forms of the bamboo. They then carried the sculptures around Theater Kinematica before disassembling the bamboo back into its raw material state. Along the way, the harmony that resonated like a simple hymn left a strong impression.
The bamboo constructions they carried were reminiscent of traditional Japanese mikoshi, which are carried during festivals as vehicles for deities and paraded through the community. iRo and Marianne's "parade" seemed to evoke a sense of opening the body to the "spiritual" elements hidden within the town by transporting the bamboo as a vehicle for the soul. The townspeople who encountered the "bamboo mikoshi" looked at it with curiosity, but I found it interesting to see how a gentle sense of community emerged through such a form of engagement. Marianne, iRo, and Camilla, as outsiders (artists) to this region, created a magical space in a corner of Ishinomaki that fostered emotional connections to the land, like a visiting deity (maribito) from outside the community, revitalizing the area.
Marianne, iRo, and Camilla highlighted the importance of "listening" in their symposium presentation. Entering the atmosphere of welcoming the spiritual elements of the land through the "bamboo mikoshi" also prepared the accompanying participants to deeply listen, re-feel, and capture the emerging power within themselves. Here, “Releasing bodily sensations” was indeed shown to be a practice of “healing” that can restore connections to the land and others.”
Based on this reading of our work, and also the reception we experienced from the local community and our international artist colleagues and participants in R6, we feel that we managed to transfer our intentions through our performance work, working with place (DAIS/Ishinomaki), materials and human and more-than-human relationships in this place, whilst touching the thematics of Releasing and Healing.
Here you can read the review by Maron Shibukawa on R6 - Responding International Festival and Meeting, Ishinomaki, Japan in full. The sixth edition of this international performance art meeting was given the headline: “Releasing and Healing”. You are also welcome to scroll down to the headline: Marianne, iRo, Camilla / Bamboo Mikoshi — Listening Slowly and Deeply / Theater Kinematica, to read about LATERNA´s and Camilla Wexels Riser's contribution and performance Shadows and Passages, made specifically for Ishinomaki.
We invited the audience for a gentle, silent walk through the streets, past a temple and back to the backyard of the theater where we started, using our bodies, movement and voice, as a silent anthem,or hymn, as we walked and carried, lifted and moved this fragile bamboo cloud.
Maron Shibukawa, who writes art criticism, who was also a participant in R6 as an artist, wrote this in his reading of LATERNA´s contribution:
"Marianne, iRo, and Camilla performed a ritualistic performance using sculptures made from bamboo. iRo and Marianne built a close relationship with the bamboo by weaving through the gaps in the sculptures and shaping their bodies to match the forms of the bamboo. They then carried the sculptures around Theater Kinematica before disassembling the bamboo back into its raw material state. Along the way, the harmony that resonated like a simple hymn left a strong impression.
The bamboo constructions they carried were reminiscent of traditional Japanese mikoshi, which are carried during festivals as vehicles for deities and paraded through the community. iRo and Marianne's "parade" seemed to evoke a sense of opening the body to the "spiritual" elements hidden within the town by transporting the bamboo as a vehicle for the soul. The townspeople who encountered the "bamboo mikoshi" looked at it with curiosity, but I found it interesting to see how a gentle sense of community emerged through such a form of engagement. Marianne, iRo, and Camilla, as outsiders (artists) to this region, created a magical space in a corner of Ishinomaki that fostered emotional connections to the land, like a visiting deity (maribito) from outside the community, revitalizing the area.
Marianne, iRo, and Camilla highlighted the importance of "listening" in their symposium presentation. Entering the atmosphere of welcoming the spiritual elements of the land through the "bamboo mikoshi" also prepared the accompanying participants to deeply listen, re-feel, and capture the emerging power within themselves. Here, “Releasing bodily sensations” was indeed shown to be a practice of “healing” that can restore connections to the land and others.”
Based on this reading of our work, and also the reception we experienced from the local community and our international artist colleagues and participants in R6, we feel that we managed to transfer our intentions through our performance work, working with place (DAIS/Ishinomaki), materials and human and more-than-human relationships in this place, whilst touching the thematics of Releasing and Healing.
Here you can read the review by Maron Shibukawa on R6 - Responding International Festival and Meeting, Ishinomaki, Japan in full. The sixth edition of this international performance art meeting was given the headline: “Releasing and Healing”. You are also welcome to scroll down to the headline: Marianne, iRo, Camilla / Bamboo Mikoshi — Listening Slowly and Deeply / Theater Kinematica, to read about LATERNA´s and Camilla Wexels Riser's contribution and performance Shadows and Passages, made specifically for Ishinomaki.