Dark Habits — onderzoek
Residencies
- 08.04 > 20.04.2024
- 27.07.2024
In his research Dark Habits, Simon Van Schuylenbergh explores his fascination with the morally ambiguous, the impossibility of being pure in a moral sense. His inspiration starts from the nun, as described in Pedro Almodovar’s comic film ‘Dark Habits’ (1983). Not so much the film’s storyline, but especially the nuns’ dark habits sparked his imagination.
During his research, Simon organises a number of happenings, where, together with other artists from the Ne mosquito pas network, he puts on five short group performances each time. In these performances, they address this unspoken morality. By perverting conservative values, they open a grey zone in which our own values can be rethought.
Another reference is ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’, a group of queer activists who held ceremonies in homemade nun costumes in the 1980s. In response to the stigmatisation of gay men infected with AIDS, whom no one dared touch anymore, they declared these men sacred. Through these canonised characters, they transformed the idea of the ‘purity’ of the Catholic faith into an anti-normative universe.
Concept & direction: Simon Van Schuylenbergh I Performance: Hanako Hayakawa, Rosie Sommers, Castélie Yalombo Lilonge, Désirée Cerocien & Simon Van Schuylenbergh I Artistic development & research: Lydia McGlinchey & Désirée Cerocien I Scenography: Veronika Bezdenezhnykh I Light design: Max Adams I Production: Kunstenwerkplaats I With the support of Decoratelier, Volksroom, Buda, Gouvernement, CAMPO, De Brakke Grond, Atelier 210, Elsemieke Scholte, Simon Baetens, VGC & Flemish Government.
(fotocredit: Maryan Sayd)