31st October
Passport Blessing Ceremony
Trafó – Budapest, Liliom u. 41, 1094
Passports have varying degrees of power. While certain passports allow travel to almost anywhere in the world without any hindrance, travel is heavily restricted for many citizens as certain countries have less powerful or blacklisted passports. This satirical ceremony/modern ritual is triggered by the intrusive processes citizens with less powerful passports have to face before entering another country, that perpetuate inequality based on citizenship and questions the specific socio-political hierarchies that are determined within the global community.
The ‘Art of Being Me’ project brings together artists working in similar/related fields but from different cultures. The project includes The Passport Blessing Ceremony and Diorama with Hungarians (31 October Trafó). Before the show, at 6PM there will be a discussion with Venuri Perera and Lili Raubinek, moderator: Noémi Herczog, theatre critic.
Conceived as a part of „Dance Archive Box” project as a commission for Singapore
International Festival of Arts ’15. Also performed at nGbK Berlin ’23, Alserkal Arts Foundation Dubai ’23, Mousonturm, Frankfurt ‘22, NAF Makhanda South Africa ‘22, ‘Laiks Dejot, Riga, Latvia ’19, CREA conference Nepal ‘19, Asia Triennial Manchester ’18, Tiyatro Medresesi Turkey ’18, Galle Literary Festival’ 18, Colombo Art Biennale in Summerhall- Edinburgh Festival ’17, Galleri Konstepidemin,Sweden ’16 (Video Documentation), The Colombo Art Biennale ’16, The Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, Japan ’16 Critical Path, Sydney, Australia 15, Barim Residency, Gwangju, South Korea ’15
Venuri Perera is an independent choreographer, performance artist, curator and facilitator from Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her work has dealt with violent nationalism, patriarchy, border rituals, colonial heritage and class. She explores the power dynamics of perception, anonymity, sensuality by subverting frameworks of ritual through performative experiments in public space, theatres and galleries. Since 2004, she has collaborated in multidisciplinary projects locally and internationally. Her solo works have been invited to festivals/platforms/symposia in Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa since 2010. She has collaborated with choreographers Geumhyung Jeong (Zürcher Theaterspektakel), Natsuko Tezuka (Saison Foundation, Kyoto Experiment), Zwoisy Mears-Clarke (Theaterformen, Goethe Coproduction Fund) and Eisa Jocson (ongoing / Mousonturm). Venuri conceived and curated the programmes of Colombo Dance Platform from 2015-2020 (Goethe-Institut Colombo). She is a founding member of the independent artist collective The Packet a visiting lecturer at the University of Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo and a member of the Dance Panel of the Arts Council in Sri Lanka. Attempting to create conditions for compassion and healing in her life and work, failing and learning, she remains curiously optimistic. A graduate of Das Theatre ‘21, she is currently based in Amsterdam.
Supporters: EUNICH-Project, Česká Centra Budapest, Österreichisches Kulturforum Budapest, Dutch Embassy Budapest
The Language of the event is English.