ShELFISH - Archive of a Lonely Body

ShELFISH and Grand4 welcome you to a work in progress of the first steps taken towards Archive of a Lonely Body. This presentation kicks off a multi-year social-artistic research project culminating in an installation that explores the movement history of displaced and migrating bodies. During this first residency ShELFISH-dancer Olympia Kotopoulos collaborates with multidisciplinary artists Soyun Park and Rawan Khater. Together they research and experiment with sound, movement and architecture in an archival nature.

Archive of a Lonely Body delves into the physical and emotional toll of displacement, a theme that resonates deeply in today’s world. Using the body as both material and metaphor, we make the physical and emotional exhaustion of migrants tangible, examining how migration shapes and is stored within the body, both physically and mentally. The lived experiences of alienation and resilience inherent in displacement becomes the focal point in this artistic testimony of the ongoing, yet often invisible, policy-driven catastrophes happening at the European borders. By actively visiting the ‘hotspots’ and collaborating with the real ‘actors’ the aim is to document traces of a migrant’s landings in order to understand their hope, fear and possible stories behind their journey.

This research will culminate in a nomadic, human-specific project that bridges performative art, technology, and social inquiry. By centering marginalized voices and fostering dialogue, we create a transformative installation that resonates locally and globally.

About ShELFISH ShELFISH is a theater organization founded and under artistic direction of theatermaker Veerle Van Overloop in close dialogue with dancer Olympia Kotopoulos and dramaturg Judith Blankenberg. The focus of their work is on the mental resilience of vulnerable individuals endangered by the current political climate with enriching cross disciplined and social-societal collaborations serving as the catalyst.