Otolithe Response Series (2021 - 2022)

In early 2021, Christine Rebet was conducting research for her next animated film project, which ended up being called Otolithe. She had been particularly interested in looking into the music tradition from the Gulf region known as Fijiri, which is often associated with pearl diving customs and their extended rituals. Her research eventually led her to Bahrain, where we connected and started a series of conversations on the topic. The conversation continued after Christine’s return to France, where she was preparing for the premier of the work as part of Escapologie - her solo exhibition in MAC Lyon. Throughout the process, the conversations we had on possible meanings of certain elements in mythologies associated with Fijiri, along with reconsidering the historical implications and certain phenomena happening in the present, we agreed that a response to the resulting animated work was needed. The result led me to performing one sound-based response to Christine’s animation at MAC Lyon in December 2021, which was followed by a conversation that included us and the exhibition curator from MAC Lyon. I was then invited once again in March 2022 for a follow-up performance/conversation, in which I created a new performance and invited Alan Marzo and Olivier Duport of FLEE Project to have a conversation with me on Fijiri as they had published a book and record (and to which I contributed some work, as well). This second performance/conversation took place at Jeu de Paume as part of their inaugural festival, with the 2022 edition being entitled Fata Morgana, which was curated by Béatrice Gross.

Once again, this work was a response to Christine Rebet’s Otolithe, which was central to the conversation and process. To learn more about the project and to see the video, please visit this link on Christine Rebet’s website.