Unfolding an Archive
Zoë Demoustier / Ultima Vez
In Unfolding an Archive, Zoë Demoustier unfolds an image archive of 20 years of war reporting. The man behind the camera is her father Daniel Demoustier. The search for a relationship to the imagery of world events with which she grew up is like a movement from far and near. In an attempt at a reconstruction, she brings the archive to life. She dismantles the mechanisms hidden behind the archive images. Gradually, a choreography of poses and gestures is created in a broken timeline of physical memories.
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- Genre: Dance
- World premiere: 6 October 2021, STUK Leuven (BE)
- Direction: Zoë Demoustier
- Creation & performance: Zoë Demoustier
- Costumes: Annemie Boonen
- Music: Rint Mennes, Willem Lenaerts, Klaas De Somer
- Coproduction: STUK Leuven
- With the support of: the City of Leuven, 30CC, Platform In De Maak
“In Unfolding an Archive, Demoustier delivers an impressive battle with the impressions that shaped her childhood (...) in which classical pantomime shines. Presented in a new, contemporary way.”
De Groene Amsterdammer
“Unfolding an Archive is not a statement about global disasters, nor a pathetic cry over an absent father. The world is a disaster, the father is absent—these are facts—but her world kept turning; that childhood bedroom in Belgium did not stand still. She moved to the rhythm of Beyoncé, and now the room of the adult woman moves to the rhythm of explosions, earthquakes, slogan-like language, and desperate cries. Or rather: R&B and chaos, simultaneously, in a single movement that never becomes fluid. A unique language for an embodied archive. Thanks to the thrilling material of father Demoustier, but above all, thanks to Zoë Demoustier herself. Her body has become a lieu de mémoire, forcefully questioning our own (over)sensitivity."
Pzazz
“The discourse raised through the dance is not only political and militant but primarily human and familial. The successful attempt is to dismantle the mechanisms that make an archive static, transforming it into something alive, reconstructed, and recognizable, through a combination of contemporary dance, mime, and extensive documentary work. It is not merely a presentation of photos and videos that places the audience as passive elements, but an interaction between how Demoustier feels the images and how she communicates them with her dancing body. Two timelines, hers and her father’s, intertwine, melding their stories and penetrating through movement. "
Pane Aqua Culture (IT)