Everything brings us back to the body

Everything brings us back to the body is a duet for a human body and a sheet of brass. Inspired by the poetry of Rumi, through reflections, movements, sounds and voice, the human and the non-human enter into dialogue, honoring the stories of violence behind the beautiful images - stories of exploitation, ecological degradation and "the right to breathe taken away" (in the words of Akile Mbembe, from whom the title is also borrowed).

Everything brings us back to the body, says Akile Mbembe in his 2020 essay.

“The Universal Right to Breathe,” written in response to the first Covid lockdowns. That same year, Ehsan Hemat began preliminary research for this work, which explores the physical possibilities of an 18-kilogram brass sheet and uses Rumi’s poetry and Gaia theory as starting points for a play with reflection and echo. The result is a ritual of visual and auditory reflections.

The juxtaposition of subject (human) and object (plate) invites a dialogue between the earth and our human essence. Bodies are both our own and yet feel strange. In the performance we encounter a desire for more balance and a call to become less dependent on technology.

Akile Mbembe: A prominent Cameroonian philosopher and historian known for his work on postcolonialism and African philosophy. His statement on the central role of the body during the pandemic highlights the embodied experience of illness and isolation.
Rumi: A 13th-century Persian poet, mystic, and theologian whose works often explore themes of love, spirituality, and the unity of all things.

Gaia Theory: A scientific hypothesis that suggests that the Earth is a self-regulating system involving all living organisms and their physical environment.