A site-specific and temporary public lecture that invites us to relate with the boundaries between what is legal and what is illegal.
“I'm fascinated with the difference between supposedly private and supposedly public and I try to engage with the issue of what it means to live in a society that's seemingly shock-proof, yet still is compelled to exercise secrecy.” - Barbara Kruger
WILL YOU MARRY ME? comes from personal shared experiences collected between Prato, Ramallah, Marseille, Madrid and Nyon and it echoes some strategies and disobedient practices used by activists from all around the world as forms to circumvent the law without violating it, whenever it affects people’s rights.
Considering the assumption that the law is a fluid parameter, which changes depending on where we are in the world, the historical period in which we live and the sort of privileges we enjoy, the law defines what is considered moral, licit, in other words, what is right. It distributes power and the perception of power in society, defining, categorizing, dividing and controlling. The shape of the lecture itself investigates a specific portion of the spectrum of illegality, namely the relationship between illegal acts and public space. It explores how we can act disobedience before everyone’s eyes, suggesting possible forms of complicity and public resistance. For Beursschouwburg’s anual theme “Are We There Yet?”, Sara will explore new contents for the lecture in relation to that question.
30 minutes
15:00 in French
16:30 in English
Place de la Bourse
WILL YOU MARRY ME ?, the artist’s book by Sara Leghissa and Marzia Dalfini is a book whose ultimate ambition is to “disappear on the street”. Its pages collect words and stories of people whose right to exist and be visible in public spaces was forced to confront the concepts of “legality” and “justice”. All the content was collected by the artist during meetings and conversations that took place in Prato, Milan, Ramallah, Marseille, Madrid, Nyon and Lausanne and with this book-object their words become manifestos that the reader is invited to detach and relocate into the public space.
The book can be purchased for 15 euros in our box office during Opening Weekend, 17-19 September.
WHO?
Sara Leghissa is an artist, performer and researcher based in Milano. Graduated in Contemporary History, she has been co-founder of the collective Strasse, involved in site-specific production in public space. Strasse worked within the frames of performance and cinema, investigating the relationship between movement and urban landscape to question and intensify our relationship to reality. For the Italian scene, she organizes icw. Annamaria Ajmone, Nobody’s Business, an independent platform for sharing practices in the performing arts and NESSUNO, a collective where artists from different disciplines gather to share their strong diversity, shuffling contexts and contents. As a performer, she has collaborated with various artists and company as Teatro Valdoca, -Dom, Giorgia Ohanesian Nardin, Muta Imago, Annamaria Ajmone, Jacopo Miliani, Daniela Bershan. She has been recently in residency at Sareyett (Ramallah) and La Casa Encendida (Madrid) and she has presented the work in different contexts including Santarcangelo Festival (IT), Triennale Teatro dell’Arte (IT), Short Theatre (IT), VAC Foundation (IT), Far Festival (CH), Oerol Festival (NL), Festival Parallèle (FR), Saal Biennal (EE), Les Tombee De La Nuit (FR).
https://saraleghissa.com
concept: Sara Leghissa
text and dramaturgy in collaboration with: Carlo Fusani, Tomas Gonzalez, Catalina Insignares
illustrations, graphic layout: Marzia Dalfini
promotion: Giulia Messia
produced by Triennale Teatro dell'Arte- Milano, Far Festival- Nyon
partners: Short Theatre- Roma, Sareyett– Ramallah, Saal Biennal- Tallinn, Parallele Festival - Marseille, within the frame of More Than This - Creative Europe
