Het Heiligdom (Sanctuary)
The transformation of the 19th century infirmary into a Centre for the Visual Arts, still incomplete, had become dogged by many problems.
Huub Mous felt that some rituals in the courtyard were necessary in order to dispel the evil spirits once and for all.
As I looked upon the chaos at the construction site, something I happened to be reading at the time came to mind (Exodus 25 - 27): Mozes imparting God's instructions to the people of Israel to go and build him a sanctuary in the Sinai desert – a text which for me has all the hallmarks of a ritual, given the extraordinary precision and the many summations and repetitions.
I resolved to have this text pronounced to the courtyard, using a group of strong voices as a pure sound.
To enable the performers to recite the text content openly into the space, unhindered by text-sheets, each line was read out by one person and then repeated by the others.
The performance:
A group of 15 choir members stand in a circle in the centre of the courtyard.
In their midst stands the prompter.
As the prompter reads out each sentence, the choir members direct themselves to the centre of the circle, cupping their hands round their ears in listening mode.
Next, they take a wide step sideways and turn at the same time, cupping their hands round their mouths and repeating the sentence directly into the space. In this way, they get to turn the full circle in a fixed rhythm, with each voice being heard in each direction. They make the turn in silence as the prompter changes from one stanza to the next.
The performance ends after about 50 minutes, when the Sanctuary text has been read in full.
Remark: due to the constant rhythmic stepping and turning, the movement takes on the character of a circular dance.
year | 2003 |
location | Infirmerie, Centre for Visual Arts, Leeuwarden NL |
performed by | Choir De Koor directed by Jildou Talman |
curator | Huub Mous |
photography | Toine Horvers |
project or event | ‘Exorcism’ seven rituals for the Infirmerie |