Mediating Nature 2023
“Mediating Nature” is the first part of a four year research and performance in defense of the forests.
In “Mediating Nature” the audience is invited into a guided practice of asking nature ‘permission’ for entry, tuning into the material and immaterial world, by listening to the language of things, and by repositioning ourselves as caretakers, mediators and cohabitants of species on the verge of extinction. The practice is inspired by Piaroa indigenous community in the Venezuelan Amazonia, which ask nature for permission before going hunting or fishing, transformed into an artistic practice by Sara Gebran developed in the last 10 years.
Beginning in total darkness of a black box, the piece navigates through digital video, kinetic sculpture-soundscapes, dance, poetry, and out of the theatre into a pocket of woodland emerging from an ex-industrial zone of Refshaleøen. In the black box we prepare ourselves to open our senses and systems of belief to enter the unknown and try to sense the natural world. Outside, in the woodland, we embody this practice of sensing and Mediating Nature. The performance contrasts and challenges our perceptions of natural and unnatural, of stage and site and of the rights of humans and non-human ‘others’.
The entry price for this performance includes a copy of the new book that the audience will receive titled: “The Forests Imaginary Trial - 374 Grieving Poems!”. The book contains two lists: a list of 'grieving poems' for the desappearence of colors in four languages, interconnected by an endless list of endangered species in the world. It's introduyction prepares the audience to choose a specie(s) to represent as a jury in the next chapter: “The Forest Trial” performance in October 2024 (read >>>>)
– a stage trial to defend non-humans, those who can’t speak and defend themselves.
Trailer:
Full video documentaion of the performance:
Credits
Director: Sara Gebran
Collaborating artists: Tor Lindstrand & Olivia Riviere
Guest artists: George Koutsouris with ‘Nature’s Symphony’ installation
Publication by Sara Gebran: “The Forests Imaginary Trials – 374 Poems for Grieving”
Project manager & PR: Max Morris-Doherty & Kim Wrang
Flyers Designer: Susanne Benther Mouritsen
Photography: Tor Lindstrand (top) & Marine Gastineau (others)
Residencies: Teaterøen & Polo Cultural Gaivotas, Lisbon
Coproduced: Metropolis Cph & Trevor Davis.
Supported by: Statens Kunstfond, Dansk Skuespillerforbund; William Demant Fonden, Københavns Kommune
Produced by: Sara Gebran / Public Eye
Duration: 1,5 hour
