“Choreographing Politics: Female Gaze” at the Bode-Museum on 13‒14 May 2023

03.05.2023
Bode-Museum

Following its successful start in summer 2022, the Choreographing Politics series, under Carolin Brandl’s artistic direction, continues for two days in May 2023 with a new segment on the Female Gaze. Once again, a renowned choreographer ‒ Erna Ómarsdóttir ‒ has been invited to develop a new work, especially for the Bode-Museum.

On Saturday, 13 May 2023, from 4:30 ‒ 5:30 pm, and Sunday, 14 May 2023, from 2:30 ‒ 3:30 pm, Ómarsdóttir, together with Swedish composer and vocal artist Sofia Jernberg, undertakes “a theatrical journey into the void of female experience … to question and attack the museum space”. Reflecting her approach to choreography and physical performance, Ómarsdóttir uses Jernberg’s unique vocal and improvisational techniques to generate an archaic mix of movement and sound.

The Choreographer Erna Ómarsdóttir

Erna Ómarsdóttir, director of the Iceland Dance Company, is known both for the works she creates with explosive energy and for her collaborations with artists including Björk, Sigur Rós, Matthew Barney, and Terence Malik. The choreographer has won numerous awards and been nominated for the German theatre prize Der Faust. Her works have also been shown at the Venice Biennale. For the Female Gaze, Ómarsdóttir designed a new choreography for the Bode-Museum’s basilica in which she herself performs.

Tickets

Tickets for the Female Gaze performance and admission to the Bode-Museum are 20 euros, 14 euros (reduced). Reduced tickets are available to all visitors eligible for free or reduced admission under the museum’s terms of use. Arts and cultural professionals with KSK (Künstlersozialkasse) identification are also eligible for ticket reductions. IDs or documentation must be shown at the entrance. Available tickets can be purchased same day at the museum ticket desk or online in advance: www.smb.museum/bm-tickets

Dialogue with The Second Glance: Women Exhibition

Female Gaze takes part in dialogue with The Second Glance exhibition series, in which visitors are invited to explore hotly-debated, socially relevant issues addressed in the Bode-Museum’s permanent exhibition. The current edition, “The Second Glance: Women”, focuses on women in history and society and the artistic interpretation of visual themes related to women. Female Gaze contrasts the decidedly feminine perspectives of female choreographers with an inherent, established male gaze, bringing this important discussion to the present day.

Female Gaze was funded by the Nationales Performance Netz (NPN) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The work Notes and Steps from the Underworld is additionally supported by Business Island.

The Choreographing Politics series continues in September 2023 with the participation of additional artists.