Oliver Beer headlines new performance program

Independent Brussels is pleased to announce its first commissions in performance, taking place from November 8 to 11, 2018 in the historic Vanderborght building.

Under the curatorial leadership of Vincent Honoré, Independent Brussels 2018 will reframe the art fair model into a performative festival welcoming live art, installations, curated displays, music, and discussions, resulting in an arena for experimentation, unexpected interactions and collective thinking. Independent Brussels is a unique event for artists, galleries, collectors, and invited institutions prioritizing live experience over existing formulas where art, in its multiple forms, is positioned at the core of the project. 

One of the highlights is the European premiere of a new performance by Oliver Beer. Exploring ideas of cultural memory and “inherited music,” pairs of singers lock mouths to perform a composition drawing on their earliest musical memories. Mouth-to-mouth, they sing through each other’s facial cavities to create a single hybrid voice. Their musical memories and their bodies become an incarnation, or resonance, of fugitive sound. 

Vincent Honoré states: “The performance engages directly with the audience in an intimate, emotional and profound way; as well as with the cultural roots of the performers. It manifests the themes that will animate the program: rhythm, movement, and memory.”

The performances come from different backgrounds: visual arts, dance and music. Yet, they all push the boundaries of live art, borrowing from other disciplines or sources to create breathtaking short acts interacting with the audience in unique ways. 

Julie Béna: Julie Béna delivers a performance of a rare emotional impact. Inspired by her family history, she narrates and sings the life of her grandmother who died of having loved too much.

Adam Christensen: The performances of Adam Christensen are mere moments of pure grace. His alter-ego, Madam, wanders through space and sings broken biographical love stories, accompanied by an accordion. And as soon as Madam sings, the atmosphere turns into a cabaret.

Mathilde Fernandez: The unlikely point of meeting between Callas, Nina Hagen, Kate Bush, Catherine Ringer, Diamanda Galas is Mathilde Fernandez. Her baroque performances, lyrical talents and stage presence make each of her appearances sublime.

Ola Maciejewska: Appropriating the ‘serpentine dance’ of Loie Fuller, Ola Manciejewska plays with the hybridity of the body in movement. The choreography forms a fluid image, timeless, complex, and intensely visual.

Please regularly visit our website for news and updates on Independent’s live program in November.

About Independent
Independent Brussels is a curated art fair and performance event, featuring leading galleries and artists from around the world.