Thank you for voting!

Doppelganger – Muxingye Chen, Aurel Violas, Matteo Mazzu & Jia Xia

Muxingye Chen’s audiovisual performance, “Doppelganger”explores the subconscious transfer of digital experiences to the physical world. Examining the responsibility of online platforms in marginalizing our physical identities, particularly for virtual counterparts, Chen, a Chinese artist in Rotterdam, grapples with the influence of Western context on his identity and social behavior. Simultaneously, digital experiences diminish his cultural and personal background. This prompts Chen to question the representation of individuals with multicultural backgrounds on the decentralized internet. Collaborating with musicians Aurel Violas, Matteo Mazzu, and Jia Xia, the project incorporates CGI techniques to merge sound data frequencies with corresponding image data. This fusion embodies cultural narratives, guided by the organic movement of data frequencies. Doppelganger becomes a profound exploration of the intersection between the digital and physical realms, prompting contemplation on identity, representation, and cultural narratives in the evolving landscape of the decentralized internet.

Exfoliate – Ruben Kotkamp &  Lukas Karvelis 

“How do we perceive the movement of others?”

Exfoliate inquires how experiences of corporeality and movement can transcend the confinements of the physical body. It explores the possibility of kinesthetic and corporeal awareness through sound and smell alone.  The spectator is presented with an evolving soundspace, played through eight circularly positioned speakers, where detailed sounds construct the illusion of a dancer’s movements. Interspersed with these sounds are faint scents, blending notes of sweat, perfume, and rubber. This sonic and olfactive choreography creates a sense of nearness and physicality, suggesting the presence of another in the space.  The installation aims to confront the spectator with their own body by presenting them with the spectre of the body of someone else.

Fever Dreams – La Uyi Ihasee & Ion Kazantzidis

Three Sybils, a snake, a lion and a pearl are dreaming in the sphere between the awake and the sleeping. Trapped in a riddle of time, space, and symbols, the three are negotiating what has been, what is here and what is to come. Fever Dreams is a physical theater dance piece, materialized as an exploration of the space in-between. Fantasizing a human experience through symbols, and their position through West African and West European history over the last 500 years. In this hypnotic universe where the brutalistic lullaby echoes and the solemn dance of the Sybils swirls the room, the audience is invited to dream with the rhythms of in-between.

Lonely Painter –  Isaï Reiziger, Belle and The Beats (Isabel Zoeteweij), Emanuel Nijkerk

Experience the transformative synergy of “Lonely Painter” – a 30-minute immersive performance by Isaï Reiziger, Belle and The Beats (Isabel Zoeteweij), and Emanuel Nijkerk. This collaboration merges (live) music, performance art, and live video to explore diverse perspectives that shape individual outlooks. Isaï and Isabel, drawing from their solo music projects, engage in a structured paint improvisation on a vast white canvas using their bodies as instruments. Cameras on their foreheads capture the dynamic process, while Emanuel orchestrates live video projections, intertwining the artists’ distinct viewpoints into a cohesive expression. Aligned with MOMO’s ‘Transcendence’ theme, “Lonely Painter” is a testament to the transformative power of collaboration, challenging audiences to explore new perceptual dimensions. Join us in this multi-sensory journey where diverse voices converge, questioning the very essence of perspective.

Means nothing – Kathy Murillo

Kathy Murillo leads a performance, sculping without touch, smell, hearing, or sight, challenging the core of art with audience involvement. Murillo’s introspection sparks a revaluation of artistic norms, inspiring collective exploration to redefine meaning in the sculpture, transcending boundaries. In this unique exploration, Murillo aims for art devoid of apparent meaning by restricting all senses. Audience participation includes contributing objects without personal meaning, fostering a shared reflection on art’s essence. The process transforms into a spiritual journey, encouraging introspection and connections with art beyond conventions, prompting reflections on existence, creativity, and emotional engagement. Murillo’s performances intertwine, collectively challenging artistic perspectives and delving into profound questions about the nature and emotional connection to art beyond conventional perceptions.

Nachtsteen – NUAL

Imagine a mirror where we create its framework by connecting art with technology. The ‘Nachtsteen’ artwork has a real-time camera at its core that records your movements. These moments are brought to life in the space by projecting them with various digital abstract effects, such as funhouse mirrors and other mesmerizing filters. Visitors of the Momo Festival can only recognize themselves by the movements they make. Besides the mesmerizing images, the ‘Nachtsteen’ has another unique aspect. Visitors can control the ‘Nachtsteen’ collectively. This promotes a sense of unity and connection. By pressing the buttons on the artwork together, they can choose the next effect or funhouse mirror and shape their artistic reflection collectively. Let’s work together to create the enchanting world of ‘Nachtsteen’ and experience something extraordinary during the Momo festival.

No Predators Were Present – Agata Sznurkowska

“No Predators Were Present” is a video featuring computer-generated mice immersed in an analog environment of Rotterdam’s canals, roads and parks. Having invited urban young adults to reflect on identity, future expectations, financial awareness, and agency in social transformation, I later collaged their recorded answers into a voiceover. The work draws inspiration from John B. Calhoun’s experiment, where he carefully constructed ideal living conditions, where ‘no predators were present’ to observe their effects on a mouse population in the facilities of the American National Institute of Mental Health. This scientific investigation serves as a parallel to the collective experience shaped by the migration toward the promise of abundant resources or human social comfort, juxtaposing our existence with that of non-human scientific “objects.” By incorporating techniques from a previous era and addressing universal themes, the video crystallises my attempt of outlining a portrait of a generation grappling with the challenges presented by the twenty-first century.

One. Everyone. – Kristina Miltcheva

Welcome to the human becoming. Welcome to the site of futuristic spirituality. Welcome to this unitive mystical experience. The hydraulic and reflective installation is composed of 3 layers: the self, the collective spirit, and the universal consciousness. Humanity seems stuck on this first step. Kristina would like people to experience a unitive ritual and rethink their obsession with the ego. Humanity must aim to get unstuck.The liquids demonstrate transformation, movement, oneness, and expansion. It is time for the next step in our evolution. With this interactive and playful installation, Kristina Miltcheva ‘s objective is to illustrate to the viewer that everything and everyone is connected. Our lifelines are entangled, we participate in the same reality, and our stories play out simultaneously. This realization could act as a conduit to a more profound dimension of being.

Pascalerf 48 – An invitation for radical stillness in an apartment building – Tom Heintz and Jolein Kop

Silence can be heard, but perhaps in Pascalerf 48, silence can also be seen. A nearly two-meter-high model of the creators’ apartment building serves as the stage for a play of light and darkness. A combination of light art, movement, and visual theater invites you for a moment of slowing down and stillness. The shadows and reflections of light are endlessly transformed by the passage of time. From the rising sun filling the space with rays of light to surreal images of infinite space and a sunset in the bedroom. This choreography of light, sound, and material makes you forget time momentarily. Tom Heintz (1992) and Jolein Kop (1995) work as scenographers and theater makers. They focus their attention on the small things in life to create moments that evoke wonder. Their work lies at the intersection of theater and installation art. Theater is the place to draw attention to the ordinary and give it a voice. Here, reality merges with their dream world. Theater without actors and text, with a leading role for space and light.

Work Hard Play Hard – Angelika Geronymaki, Stuk Theatre, Monomania Productions

You are in charge, in this game you are a god. Step into an office made out of cardboard, filled with suspended ceilings, fluorescent lights, desks, computers and coffee machines. During this continuous, theatrical and physical performance the audience gets full control over the daily grind of a 9-to-5 job in this real life Sims-game. The audience is in charge of the behavior and physical environment of the Sims characters. Physical as well as emotional responses are triggered in the characters as the audience, if they choose to do so, makes them build up and tear down the dull office furniture endlessly. Just like in the videogame, the person controlling the buttons can push the limits. How far will you go in this monotonous office construction kit?

Questions? Get in touch with us

Do you have questions about the process or the theme, or need some more inspiration? Open Call coordinator Ezgi is happy to help, feel free to reach out via opencall@motelmozaique.nl  

We look forward to seeing your ideas,

Team MOMO