Helena Araújo
and it gets better
Huggy Bears Days
In her solo performance and it gets better, Helena Araújo uses humour, disobedience and comedic extravagance to dismantle the tough life of the art market. The performer invites the audience to a beach that throws a warm spotlight on the mental health of culture workers in the performing arts. Riding the toxic waves of the art market, she challenges the underrepresentation of precarious working conditions, constant traveling and harsh criticism in the field. Or is it simply a beach after all?
While Helena Araújo is sitting in a deckchair on the beach in her solo performance and it gets better, lecturing about warning signals or maybe fending off a couple of sharks, she humorously shares intimate stories and secret fears with the audience. And she tells of the times when curators had the weird habit of constantly referring to her as ‘Helena Araújo from Brazil’.
Emotions splash out with no sign of shame on this artificial, theatrical beach – splash, splash, splash! The shore gets wet, as the audience might from the saltwater. But it gets even better! Helena Araújo challenges the common idea that artists become more valuable the more they do – by trying the exact opposite: to do nothing. She fails, she tries again, she fails… being a freelance worker is no picnic. And hey, Araújo is still trying to find ways to deal with getting hurt, and she won’t give up any time soon. After all, things are bound to get better sooner or later.
Helena Araújo is an enthusiastic femme maker and performer, lover of twists and clown full of kitsch and bad jokes. Originally from Rio de Janeiro, she currently lives in Vienna. Her work has been presented at various places, including Radiant Nights Festival (BE), Venuše ve Švehlovce Theatre (CZ), Moving Futures Festival (NL), FDS Festival (CH), De Nieuwe Vorst (NL), Pinkbus Platform (CZ), Paradise Cabaret (IE) and House of Circus Cabaret Night (NL). As a performer, she has worked with the following artists: TRASH Performance Group (NL), Ivo Dimchev (BG), Renan Martins (DE/BR), Martin Talaga (CZ/SK), Petra Tejnorová (CZ/SK).
About Bears in the Park and the ‘HUGGY BEARS mentoring program’:
Since 2016, Huggy Bears has been a pillar of innovative performance art, supporting emerging artists in Vienna. Each year, the mentoring programme provides three or four individuals or collectives with comprehensive support in areas from production to administration, equipment and dramaturgy. In a series of different presentation formats as well as regular feedback sessions within the group, the young artists’ projects develop into very special pieces. At the end of the nine-month programme, the mentees get to present their performance projects for the first time on a big stage in Vienna. This year, the Huggy Bears Days will be held as a co-operation between brut Wien and WUK performing arts. The programme is operated by the initiative Bears in the Park run by Philippe Riéra and Charlotte Bastam. The initiative is dedicated to supporting the Viennese performance scene and helping it grow. To foster this goal, the HUGGY BEARS are offered not only reliable advisors but also rehearsal spaces. Each autumn, Bears in the Park releases an open call for artists to submit their project proposals for the following year.
Credits
Concept, dramaturgy and performance Helena Araújo Dramaturgy Ana Rocha Assistant, set, costume and lighting design Evandro Pedroni Sound design Luis Ramirez Mũnoz aka Lulu, Zeynab Kirikou Gueye Special participation Nerea Gonzalez
Special thanks to Claire Lefèvre, Luisa Pisetta Ravanelli, Luis Javier Murillo Zúñiga, Andrea Vezga, Daniela Hernandez Flores, Sven Chwalibog, Jennie-Love Navoret, Yoh Morishita
A co-production by Huggy Bears, brut Wien and WUK performing arts
With support from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Civil Service and Sport for the START scholarship.
Links & Social
Dates & Tickets
The performance on Fri, November 22 will be followed by an artist talk (Moderation: Denise Palmieri).
studio brut
Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
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brut nordwest
accessible
Nordwestbahnstraße 8-10, 1200 Vienna
Subway: U1, U2 (Praterstern), U4 (Friedensbrücke), U6 (Dresdnerstraße) Tram: 5 (Nordwestbahnstraße) Bus: 5A (Wasnergasse)
studio brut
not accessible
Zieglergasse 25, 1070 Wien
Subway: U3 (Zieglergasse), Tram: 49 (Westbahnstraße / Zieglergasse)
brut at Exhibit Eschenbachgasse
Eschenbachgasse 11 / Ecke Getreidemarkt, 1010 Vienna
U-Bahn: U4, U1 (Karlsplatz), Tram: 1, 2, D, 71 (Burgring), Bus: 57A (Getreidemarkt)