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12 Dec
Dates & Tickets

Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE

12 Dec
A person moves dynamically across a dark stage, holding a large, shiny piece of fabric in front of the body. The fabric in gold, black and deep pink opens like a wide fan and conceals parts of the body. The person wears red high heels, with one leg stepping forward. On the right, there is a transparent chair; in front of it are a glass bottle with yellowish liquid on a small tray, a grey cloth and technical props. Projections and the person’s large shadow are visible on the back wall.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl

Event information

Location

Price

Pay as you can

Language

English and French

Content Notes

The performance HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE combines movements, images, and sounds and places them in new contexts. Everyday objects such as a table or a chair become tools for experimenting with intimacy, cooking, and sexuality. The centre of the exploration is the mouth. Actions are repeated and changed. They no longer serve their usual purpose and can be understood in different ways. What we see on stage is never fully clear and triggers constantly new associations.

A table. A mouth. Materials worked to the point of exhaustion, where the boundaries between everyday life and cooking, intimacy and sexuality are broken open.

HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE restages gestures borrowed from cooking – crushing, chewing, spreading – and pushes into different contexts. The rhythm in the piece falters, actions overflow, no longer serving any recognisable purpose.

What might belong to eating shifts into new, ambivalent constellations. What is seen is never unambiguous; images cling to surfaces and, as fragmented impressions, challenge the audience to navigate through different perspectives and assemble fragments.

At the same time, the soundscape brings the audience into immediate proximity with what unfolds on stage: meanings and references overlap. What is heard resists being assigned to a single context.

HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE does not aim to clarify, but to sustain a state of friction between useful gesture and excess, between attraction and discomfort.

Dates & Tickets

Media

A person stands on a dark stage, holding two long, shiny lengths of fabric upwards. One fabric is deep pink, the other shimmers in gold and black. The fabrics almost completely wrap the body and rise into the space like tall, moving shapes. A large shadow of the person and the fabrics appears on the back wall, alongside faint coloured projections. On the right, there is a transparent chair; in front of it are a glass bottle on a tray, a grey cloth and other small props. The scene is strongly contrasted and feels theatrical, ceremonial and concealed.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl
Eine Person steht auf einer dunklen Bühne vor einer hellen Projektionsfläche. Sie ist in ein großes, glänzendes Stoffstück in Gold, Schwarz und dunklem Pink gehüllt, das hoch über den Körper gezogen ist und das Gesicht teilweise verdeckt. Der Stoff fällt in weiten Bahnen bis zum Boden und wirkt wie ein bewegliches Kostüm oder eine skulpturale Hülle. Rechts steht ein transparenter Stuhl, davor liegen ein kleines Tablett mit einer Glasflasche, ein graues Tuch und weitere Requisiten. Ein Bodenstrahler beleuchtet die Szene von rechts und wirft große Schatten auf die Rückwand.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl
A large, shiny piece of fabric in gold, black and deep pink spreads almost horizontally across the stage, largely concealing the person underneath. Only one leg in a red high heel is visible beneath the fabric. The lighting creates a large, elongated shadow on the grey back wall, amplifying the movement of the fabric. In the foreground on the right, there is a transparent chair, with a small tray and glass bottle, a grey cloth and a floor spotlight beside it. The scene feels like a moment between dance, concealment and transformation.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl
A person moves on a dark stage within a strong beam of light. Their body is bent forward, with their legs firmly placed on the floor in red high heels. A large, shiny piece of fabric in gold, black and deep pink swirls around them, almost completely covering the upper body and creating a wide, fluttering shape. A projection screen with blurred images is visible in the background on the left, while a table with an old gramophone stands on the right. The space feels dark and intimate, with individual light sources creating strong contrasts.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl
A person sits in a crouched position on a transparent chair on an almost black stage. They wear red high heels and are wrapped in dark, shiny fabrics that partly conceal the body. A warm floor light shines from the lower right, casting strong shadows across the floor. Small props lie beside the chair, including glass containers and a dark piece of fabric. On the right, a table holds an old gramophone, its golden horn visible in the light. The scene feels quiet, focused and mysterious.
Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe – HIDING THIS PALE OBJECT OF DESIRE, A PLEASURE
© Markus Gradwohl

Contributors

Credits

Artistic direction, concept, costumes and performance: Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe
Video assistance and stage design: David Pujadas Bosch
Music and sound composition: Ursula Winterauer
Lighting design: Sveta Schwin

Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe

Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe was born in Kinshasa and grew up in France, where she studied fine art and sculpture. In her choreographic work, the artist deals with the sensitive and fragile dimensions of the body and the concept of normality, which she criticises as tyrannical and humiliating. Her most recent works have been shown in such contexts as the Vienna Festival, steirischer herbst, brut Wien, donaufestival, the Vienna Dance Festival and Afro_Vibes Amsterdam. www.elitambwe.com

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