Without love, there is no mourning. Without mourning, there is no love. That is the cycle – the cycle of life. We live, we love, we die. Death is there and is part of it. How beautiful would it be to make peace with it? Like Andreas Constantinou’s mother, who gave him a smile at the end. As a son and a lover, he went through this process with her. The love and the intimate and honest conversations he had with her before she died form the basis of the award-winning performance My undying love by HIMHERANDIT Productions, which can be experienced for the first time in Germany at Kunstquartier Bethanien from 16 to 21 December.
Image above: courtesy of Kunstquartier Bethanien – My undying love Song of grief – HIMHERANDIT & Vanasay Khanmphommala 1
Awarded the Scenekunstens Priser Award in 2021 and nominated for Reumert and the Aarhus Stage Art Award 2022, the immersive production is an honest response to grief and at the same time a love letter to humanity and a paean to life itself.
Five audience members per performance can immerse themselves in the immersive installation and at the same time become part of the universal story about letting go. A deeply moving experience – embedded in experimental soundscapes and a 360° video panorama. In addition to Andreas Constantinou, Dagmara Bilon is also part of the Himherandit Performer:innen team.
“Death, grief and loss are issues that are often kept under wraps. Yet they are an inevitable part of life, and sharing these experiences is an important and powerful act of learning, healing and human connection. Our society’s approach to grief needs to change. We artists:inside are there to address the loopholes in society and politics. In My Undying Love, simple acts of human kindness and shared rituals become door openers to break taboos around death and create an artistically used space for grief, life and love,” says Andreas Constantinou.
In collaboration with HIMHERANDIT Productions and as a continuation and complement to My undying Love, Vanasay Khamphommala opens a second space with Songs of grief, which offers the audience a moment of breathing and the possibility to let the experiences of the previous performance reverberate. The initial focus is on the breath, which will flow into a symphony of silence, voice and music in the course of the performance. Songs of grief is a place of (re)care where grief, love and longing come together.
Vanasay Khamphommala says: “I want to create something that resonates with My undying Love. One thing I’m very much against at the moment is the idea of hyper-productivity. I think it’s important to allow yourself to do little – to take time – for yourself and for grief. The breath is the beginning and the end at the same time – just as Andrea’s mother exhaled one last time before she left for a new place”.
With the company Lapsus chevelü, founded in 2017, Vanasay Khamphommala repeatedly develops counter-designs to a binary heterogeneous society and works together with queer theorist Paul Preciado, among others. The non-binary and queer perspective on general human processes and supra-worldly themes connects the two artists Andreas Constantinou and Vanasay Khamphommala – and so My undying love and Songs of grief are absolutely works that ask for a social transformation in many ways.
As part of the performances, there will be a workshop on mourning. Find more info on this below.
/// My undying Love – Artist:in/Concept/Performer:in: Andreas Constantinou// Performer:in/dramaturgical collaboration: Dagmara Bilon // Performer:in: Kenth Rose // Video: Christoffer Brekne// Technique: Jeppe Cohrt// Music: Marlou Vriens// Sound Design: Jeppe Cohrt & Andreas Constantinou /// Songs of grief – Artist:in: Vanasay Khamphommala// Collaboration: Dagmara Bilon / Andreas Constantinou /// A letter to my love – Sociocultural concept: Dagmara Bilon ///
Dates My undying Love / Songs of grief:
16.12.2022 – 3pm/ 5pm/ 8pm/ 10pm
17.12.2022 – 3pm/ 5pm/ 8pm/ 10pm
18.12.2022 – 3pm/ 5pm/ 8pm/ 10pm
19.12.2022 – 2pm/ 4pm/ 7pm/ 9pm
20.12.2022 – 4pm/ 7pm/ 9pm
21.12.2022 – 4pm/ 7pm/ 9pm
Duration of the performance: 90 minutes
Meeting point / Admission:
Kunstquartier Bethanien Studio 1
Mariannenpl. 2,
10997 Berlin
Tickets: 13 € – this way
Hygiene measures: Current regulations will be communicated at the time of ticket purchase.
Workshop
Date:
17.12.2022 – 10:00-13.30 – Songs of grief
Sounds of Grief – Vanasay Khamphommala
What does grief do to our breath, to our voice? Mostly. grieving is often about letting go of something that is stuck in our throat. In this workshop, which reflects the creative process of her performance SONGS OF GRIEF, Vanasay Khamphommala explores with participants ways to transform the silence of grief into audible emotions through the breath and the voice.
