In their artistic exploration, Joshua Serafin wrestles with the fractures & wounds imprinted by empire on the body, soul, and community. For the work PEARLS, the multi-media artist draws inspiration from nonnormative genders celebrated in the precolonial Philippines. Together with fellow artists Lukresia Quismundo, and Bunny Cadag, Serafin abandons the binary they have inherited from colonial culture and returns to the ancient past in search of the spiritual roots of Filipino society. With a gaze toward & away from imperial history, the three performers advance gender-diverse existence as an alternative blueprint for the future. PEARLS thus becomes an exercise of healing that offers an opportunity for queer & trans people of color to transfigure dark and traumatic histories into something beautiful, similar to pearls formed from foreign particles which irritate the oyster’s mantle. PEARLS is the last part of the trilogy “Cosmological Gangbang”.
PEARLS is included in our Bear (AKA Full Week), Otter (Weekend Max), and Pup (Weekend Lite) Passes. Click here for more information about our passes.
Credits
Concept: Joshua Serafin
Performance: Joshua Serafin, Lukresia Quismundo & Bunny Cadag
Sound: Pablo Lilienfeld
Scenography: RV
Light: Ryoya Fudetani
Costumes: Katrien Baetslé
Video: Federico Vladimir Strate Pezdirc
Artistic Assistance: Rasa Alksnyte
Theory & Poetry: Jaya Jacobo
Outside Eye: Arco Renz
Coproduction: VIERNULVIER (BE), BIT Teatergarasjen (NO), HAU Hebbel Am Ufer (DE), beursschouwburg (BE), STUK (BE), WpZimmer & C-TAKT (BE), Theater Rotterdam (NL)
Supported by: Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie
Residencies: Emerging Islands
Acknowledgement: Talaandig-Manobo community and Kulahi in Bukidnon
The text includes translations by Christian Jil Benitez, Rica Paras & Macky Torrechilla
Access
This performance contains strobe light and haze effects.
Fierce Says
Combining dance, song, and text, PEARLS is a ritual of healing. Fresh off their installation at this year’s Venice Biennale, Joshua Serafin and their collaborators conjure something ferocious, virtuosic, tender, messy, and playful. PEARLS is a feast and it is divine.