Friday June 20, 2014
To whom it may concern,
This is an act of reading a letter of resignation from thisperformance. The content of this reading is effective immediately. We regret to inform you that unfortunately our resignation was necessary due to unsatisfactory work conditions and unsolved dilemmas that this performance subjected us to.
We tried to accomplish a challenging act treating concepts such as: Religion and sexuality in public spaces, and to deliver it in five minutes. But our bodies suddenly had a certain ambivalence about sexuality, body and agencies.
So we decided to hide to lessen our sorrows and pains, and to cover up our crying and mourning.
This is an act of reading a letter of resignation from thisperformance. The content of this reading is effective immediately. We regret to inform you that unfortunately our resignation was necessary due to unsatisfactory work conditions and unsolved dilemmas that this performance subjected us to.
We tried to accomplish a challenging act treating concepts such as: Religion and sexuality in public spaces, and to deliver it in five minutes. But our bodies suddenly had a certain ambivalence about sexuality, body and agencies.
So we decided to hide to lessen our sorrows and pains, and to cover up our crying and mourning.
Although we have enjoyed the opportunity of performing here tonight, and we are aware of the privilege of existing in a space far away from acts of harassment, rape, occupation and killing, of violent wars against our bodies, our freedoms, our utopias and our faces.
But the difficulties in this act come from a roundabout of questions: Such as:
How can we die alone away from your individual gaze?
Why do our bodies become political when we perform a letter of resignation? Why do we always need to speak about politics?
Which politics matter?
How is it that our personal sexuality is political?
But how is it political?
& How can we answer all these existential questions in 5 minutes?
Would we sit down and open our legs in front of you to represent for you l’origine du monde / in an act that lasts for 5 minutes?
Would you like us to sit down and open our legs and show you our wounds?
Our vaginas?
Our tits?
Our dicks?
Our assholes?
Would it be more provocative to your ears if you heard us talking about certain parts of our bodies?
Should we dress up as drag queens to animate your current gaze?
But the difficulties in this act come from a roundabout of questions: Such as:
How can we die alone away from your individual gaze?
Why do our bodies become political when we perform a letter of resignation? Why do we always need to speak about politics?
Which politics matter?
How is it that our personal sexuality is political?
But how is it political?
& How can we answer all these existential questions in 5 minutes?
Would we sit down and open our legs in front of you to represent for you l’origine du monde / in an act that lasts for 5 minutes?
Would you like us to sit down and open our legs and show you our wounds?
Our vaginas?
Our tits?
Our dicks?
Our assholes?
Would it be more provocative to your ears if you heard us talking about certain parts of our bodies?
Should we dress up as drag queens to animate your current gaze?
Or should we oppress ourselves even during magical moments of performance and wear a black veil, shador, or a burka?Which sexualities, and which bodies are we representing?
Are they our individualistic ones?
Our own personal interpretations?
Or are they the ones that are the most exotic to you?
Which sexuality we are talking about?And who are we representing?
Which agencies are pressuring our sexualities? Should we Belly dance for you?
Or should we tell you a personal testimony about sexuality in public spaces in Egypt?
Syria?
Lebanon?
How about Palestine?
Libya?
Yemen?
Iraq?
Tunisia?
Morocco?
Algeria?
Does our sexuality have a freedom of words?
How about our bodies?
And now?
What’s wrong with us?
Why can’t we imagine a sexuality for ourselves in front of an artistic and cultural audience?
What’s wrong with us?
Why are we censoring our bodies from your gaze?
Are we afraid of your gaze reflecting information about our bodies and sexualities?
Would it become more exotic for you? And therefore more desirable?
Stop it!
Please stop!
Very sincerely yours,
Fadiha Fajira & The Team
Why can’t we imagine a sexuality for ourselves in front of an artistic and cultural audience?
What’s wrong with us?
Why are we censoring our bodies from your gaze?
Are we afraid of your gaze reflecting information about our bodies and sexualities?
Would it become more exotic for you? And therefore more desirable?
Stop it!
Please stop!
Very sincerely yours,
Fadiha Fajira & The Team
Ana Nieves Moya AKA LaManchega
Zimi AKA Scooby Dub
Nacho
48hrs Neukölln, Kunstruam T27
Berlin, Germany
Curated by Nora Molitor