Kas Pijs
This year’s edition of MOMO Festival puts the spotlight on spirituality. What does this mean for Kas? “Spirituality for me translates to my passion for queer theory and queerness as a way of being. Doing that inspires me; its about how you exist as someone who is considered ‘different’ in society. How you and your body can behave differently – it can often be subversive.” Kas explores the pushing of normative boundaries in society in both their work and their personal life. However, queerness is far more than theorisation – it is also about feeling and moving with it. “I think there is some kind of spiritual work going on there.”
R3LN4CHT is spiritual in two ways: the reflective and representative nature of queer performance, as well as the stimuli and freedom of the night. For instance, this year they produce work around the theme of ‘faggot friendships’: a performance on intense queer friendship between two people from the same sex or gender that are normally seen as being in love. “It is a very personal theme because the performers themselves, Didi and Lodewijk, are ‘faggot friends’. So the performance becomes a reflection of their personal life – in which they aim to represent the spirit of the ‘faggot friendship’.” Using the elements of night culture such as lights, music and dance, R3LN4CHT offers a radical representation of the night, delving into themes of escapism and the freedom to be yourself. The stimuli of the night can take you away from day-to-day life into a place where your senses awaken. You can experiment with identity, you can move freely to rhythms and beats. Along with the community aspect of club-culture it becomes a spiritual experience.
For this year’s edition of MOMO festival, we can expect an immersive performance from R3LN4CHT. Performance artist Didi has gotten a lot of creative freedom and Kas is beyond excited to see how it will all come together. R3LN4CHT is radical and often brings unexpected reactions and insights within the crowd. Organising and creating a performance is one thing, but seeing it manifest live is unique and fulfilling: “You see the performers having fun, the audience is engaged, and we are having a blast.”