LINEAGE
first performed on June 8, 2019
“Formations” at the Industrial Palace, Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design & Space, Prague, Czechia
performed once in 2019
LONGVA+CARPENTER
Terese Longva, Laurel Jay Carpenter
Skuløy i Møre og Romsdal, Norway / Newcastle, UK
longvacarpenter.com
LINEAGE
LONGVA+CARPENTER
Sculptural, durational and designed for public space, the performance opens with two women standing back-to-back in glistening saffron dresses. Just between is the long train of each dress, which ultimately connects us. The women walk apart, so slowly the movement is almost imperceptible. Over five hours the text on the train is gradually revealed, sewn in contrasting pink fabric. The walk continues, the train extends to 30 meters, shifting its scope from garment to banner, from body to assembly. The quote is then at its most accessible. The color choice (a nod to Sara Danius’ visual protest at the December 2018 Nobel Prize Award Ceremony as well as the 385-mile “Women’s Wall” in Kerala, India) and the specific phrase, political yet poetic, incorporates a feminist and activist ideology. After researching many inspiring slogans of the historic suffragettes, we chose a quotation from female writer Ryan Graudin, to include a contemporary and inclusive political vernacular: “Here is a silence broken.” The sculptural garment, claiming space and reclaiming our voice, serves as both a protest sign and a signifier of protest. Current feminist discourse is comprised of many actions, conversations, and declarations before. This conceptual layering through time becomes a visible repeat in a single strong line, slowly unfurled. The oversized, shared dress is both a weight and a bond, a measure and a lure; it signifies this moment as a metaphor of moments past, and the directionality of moving into our shared future. This is our “Lineage.”