«Accumulation of a Body» by Yara Bou Nassar

«I am in survival mode.» This is a description I often hear (even more so lately) when I ask people around me how they are. The earth is in survival mode as well as its creatures. We have pushed ourselves or have been pushed to the edge. We deal with the consequences. We survive. We try to preserve our empathy, we resist, we try not to get numb, we try to stay angry, we try to still find the strength to believe that we can do better. I watch an insect wandering around the apartment for days. Then I watch it die in a second when it stumbles into a tiny spider’s web. It lays still. I ponder upon its stillness. I go over last conversations with people I know I will never have the chance to talk to again, not like that. I go over every word until the words no longer make sense. They become sounds overrun by time.

Through recounting associative images and sensations of daily life observations, this performance explores the idea of processing accumulations and tipping points, particularly in moments of physical stillness. Through a series of minimal movements, it questions the process of how to physically hold the accumulations of another body when it is bigger than your own. How does that process change when this bigger body in question is the city you inhabit? How to rest and hold space for accumulation by being alone together?

The performance dives into the relational coexistence between human bodies and other forms of bodies in urban spaces.

Yara Bou Nassar is a Lebanese performer, theater maker, and writer based in Zurich since 2020. She is interested in inspecting identity with respect to collective memory. She approaches themes which are often focused on the deconstruction of social stereotypes and daily behavior in the urban context as well as in the private and intimate space. She is particularly interested in manifestations of discomfort in the body in different forms. Most of her projects stem from an autobiographical starting point. Her work is often based on documentary material and blurring the lines between fiction and reality.