We all carry secrets, shoulder hidden truths, ferry private knowledge. Secrets can take many forms- misdemeanours, misbehaviour, delight, shame, trauma. We often describe a secret as an object, something to carry inside, a separate entity from ourselves, a thing. A heavy thing, a burden, a weight, a baggage, something to keep. If you can keep a secret, can you also set it free?

This November, mala voadora becomes a depository for secrets, a drop off center of hidden truths. The collaborative project exorcism // exorcisme from Valerie Renay and Christy Langer offers an immersive experience and highlights the energy charge of communication. A sound scape is composed of collected secrets, and combined with an interactive installation, the gallery space is transformed into an alter of confidant. Visitors are invited to play a role and add to the series by leaving their own secrets into the mix.

The foundation of exorcism // exorcisme is to harness that engagement, by the sharing of secrets, into a collective creative process. By participation, or simply active listening, one becomes a co-creator of the space.

Evening performances will take place where participants are guided by rituals of intimate confessions. Led by Renay, the rituals subvert the conventional method of performance, as here, the audience becomes the central figure.

“It was essential to us to create a space that is inclusive, breaks the boundaries of inhibition, frees concepts of self accusation. The walls are down in the floating sea of secrets. Visiting the space, one should feel the healing agent of communication- people are offered an experience to take away, to play, and also, hopefully, to leave something, a burden perhaps, behind.”

Valerie Renay and Christy Langer

 

curator Linda Toivio performers Christy Langer and Valerie Renay

datasdates

november 6 to 15 ‧ mala voadora (exhibition)

november 6 + 9 + 14 ‧ mala voadora (performances)