Continuing with the Barbarie Mineral cycle, the Conde Duque Cultural Centre is hosting this mosaic of sound documents on 25 and 26 May, directed by Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere and telling the story of the sea depths and its relationship with the surface. It is the final part of their trilogy on mining, which began with Mining Stories and continued with Pleasant Island.
Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere will première in Madrid the third part of their trilogy on mining. On this occasion, they focus on a completely new industry: deep sea mining. Their documentary story kicks off in the spring of 2021, when three ships gather in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.
One of the ships belongs to the Belgian dredging company, DEME-GSR. Four kilometres below the sea surface, their mining robot is scraping the seabed in search of rare metals. On a second ship, an international team of marine biologists is keeping a close watch on the operation. A third ship completes the fleet: on board the infamous Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace activists protest against this potential future industry.
From their small apartment in Brussels, Silke and Hannes connect with the three ships via satellite, each of which represents one pillar of the public debate: industry, science and activism. From a series of interviews and conversations, an intimate portrait emerges through a poetic search. It is an attempt to capture a potentially pivotal moment in the history of the earth. How much deeper can we dig and what are we as humankind actually digging towards?
On stage, based on real stories, conversations and interviews that Silke and Hannes, stage journalists, convey to the audience, a fully immersive experience is created, in which there comes a moment in which we believe we are the sole recipients of the voices we will hear. On stage, there are screens, pedals and the almost silent presence of Huysmans. Nothing else is needed to tell this story about the depths of the sea.
Artistic File:
- Director: Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere
- Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
- Sound: Lieven Dousselaere outside eye Pol Heyvaert
- Technicians: Korneel Coessens, Piet Depoortere, Koen Goossens and Babette Poncelet
- Co-production: Bunker (Ljubljana), De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam), Noorderzon - Festival of Performing Arts and Society (Groningen), Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Zürich), Beursschouwburg & Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris) and Festival d’Automne à Paris (Paris)
- Residencies: Kunstenwerkplaats, Pilar, Bara142 (Toestand), De Grote Post, 30CC, GC De Markten & GC Felix Sohie
- Acknowledgements: John Childs, Henko De Stigter, Patricia Esquete, Iason-Zois Gazis, Jolien Goossens, Matthias Haeckel, An Lambrechts, Ted Nordhaus, Maureen Penjueli, Surabhi Ranganathan, Duygu Sevilgen, Joey Tau, Saskia Van Aalst, Kris Van Nijen, Vincent Van Quickenborne and Annemiek Vink
Approximate Duration: 60 minutes
Recommended Age: All ages
Language: English with Spanish subtitles
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