“IF SUICIDE BOMBERS LOOKS LIKE YOU, I WOULD LOVE TO DIE”
Day 1: Costumes, perfromance and censorship.
On Day 1, we met and I introduced the persona of Madame Bomba, and the intervention that happened in 2014. I also made clear the problematics of speaking about such an intervention, in an artistic space, at a German institute, in Berlin, during an ongoing genocide, within a climate of censorship. We told different narratives of how the German state is engaging with tactics of violence and censorship, and how this could be a ground to inspire performance strategies.
In the second half of the day, I introduced what we will do in the workshop in general, to make this workshop ok: each participant will create their costume, and we can wear them only inside the studio space. Participation should end at the workshop if one doesn’t feel comfortable wearing the costumes. Everyone agreed to continue.
While we started creating the costumes, with minimum budget and tools, we also started talking about costumes and apparels. We spoke about IDF soldiers wearing Gazan and Southern Lebanese women’s clothes and lingerie, posing with them and displaying them. Then we spoke about how apparel and objects become extensions of bodies, amplifying them or exposing them, and the affect that comes with it.
Later, we hosted curator Racha Gharbieh, who read for us letters from artists responding to censorship in Germany.
In the second half of the day, I introduced what we will do in the workshop in general, to make this workshop ok: each participant will create their costume, and we can wear them only inside the studio space. Participation should end at the workshop if one doesn’t feel comfortable wearing the costumes. Everyone agreed to continue.
While we started creating the costumes, with minimum budget and tools, we also started talking about costumes and apparels. We spoke about IDF soldiers wearing Gazan and Southern Lebanese women’s clothes and lingerie, posing with them and displaying them. Then we spoke about how apparel and objects become extensions of bodies, amplifying them or exposing them, and the affect that comes with it.
Later, we hosted curator Racha Gharbieh, who read for us letters from artists responding to censorship in Germany.