Dear visitors to Gessnerallee, dear artists
February is fast approaching and we are really looking forward to the premiere of ‘A Certain Darkness Is Needed to See the Stars’ by Ramón Oliveras & Kim de l'Horizon (7.2./8.2.). We asked the two artists three questions about the ritual performance including a solo percussion concert.
What is the background to ‘A Certain Darkness Is Needed to See the Stars’? How did the piece come about?
Ramón Oliveras: It was created during a time of grief and upheaval, when I was coming to terms with the loss of my mother, whom I had accompanied for four years through her process of dying. Death, which had previously been an abstract concept, suddenly became a tangible reality. However, the proximity to death also intensified my perception of the beauty and fragility of life. I began to experience the fleeting moments more intensely and to cultivate the connection to my loved ones more consciously.
With this piece, we want to create a space that enables other people to immerse themselves in this process too. It is an invitation to come to terms with our own transience and to celebrate the beauty of life in all its fullness. It is the dance between darkness and light, between sadness and joy, between life and death.
How did you come together as an artistic duo?
Kim de l'Horizon: We met at a neo-pagan ritual. It was the longest night of the year. With the ritual, we wanted to drive away the spirits of winter with fire; the meteorological spirits as well as the other spirits of cold and rifts; wounded hearts, violent conflicts and missing communities. As always the individual and the collective intermingled. We grounded ourselves on the rigid ground and invoked the elements and our community. By the end of the ritual, many things were clear: we both wanted to work together. Combine our powers and knowledge to find other ways of fighting the spirits of greyness.
For you, what would be the perfect feedback from the audience?
Ramón Oliveras: I hope that the audience's experience in this room will be very diverse and individual. However, I would be delighted if one or two people were to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings about transience and thus establish a deeper connection with themselves and others. Because: To be blessed in death, one must learn to live. To be blessed in life, you must learn to die.
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