Nicole Weniger
7 – 26 November
Opening 6 – 9pm, Thursday 6th November
8th November, Off-Site Performance
Seasonal Integration is a performance series that broaches the issue of the burka ban that has been debated in Europe. The ban is an an attempt to halt the appearance of the burka in public. Contrary to this, one is happy to welcome the well-heeled Arabic tourist as a guest. Islamophobia is at odds with profitable tourism management. An ever-growing number of Arabic holidaymakers are choosing to visit Austria. In an effort to profit financially from this phenomenon, courses and workshops are now on offer, which are supposed to teach the correct etiquette and protocol for dealing with Arabic tourists. Zell am See is turning into Little Abu Dhabi; traditional restaurants are changing their names to Ali Baba. Seasonal Integration with a glossy finish.
For the performance in Belfast I want to deal with the question of the arrival of this “tourist” group that had been walking around in public spaces in the previous performances in Budapest, Salzburg and Innsbruck. For that the location of the performance will be around the harbour of Belfast or an empty beach near Belfast. A group of people, who are wearing this golden burkas, will wander around and position themselves in different formations. The aim is not to interact with the passerbys, like in the previous performances, but to work on a staged photography. The group of people should look like being stranded and the photographs shall tell the story of a surreal arriving in a new landscape/environment.
Depending on the location, the whole interaction will take up to 2-3 hours.
The performance will take place on Saturday the 8th of November. The exact time will be pronounced, when we know the exact location and decided which light will be best for the photography. But probably we will start in the morning. The performers don’t need to have special skills. Men and women can participate. (Men shouldn’t be taller than 1,80 ´cause of the sizes of the burkas.) Would be great to get a large number of participants. Max. 20 people. If you are interested in taking part please contact us at platformbefast@gmail.com