Invited by Avtonomi Akademia – Academy of Transformation, Ancient or Human-Made? was part of Down to Earth’s “unplugged” program at Gropius-Bau.

Based on a dream, this performance lecture presented an extract of my communication attempts with breeding salmons for the project The Bonding, alongside adaptations of the poetic streams of consciousness from a wild salmon, developed for The Bone.

Upon entering the space, each participant is given a card with a word “Ancient?” or “Human-Made?” written on it. The audience is thus integrated into the performance, as they are separated into two these groups. The group division was marked in the space with a black rope on the floor in the shape of infinity symbol.

By requesting them to close their eyes, each group listened to an evolving reading, directed towards them as salmons impersonations. In this way, the own participant’s imagination was actively involved as part of the performance.

Ancient or Human-Made? refers to two anthropogenic classifications of a species with a rich and long indigenous history in the Northern Hemisphere, whose agency and geo-identity are being currently subverted to comply with extractive methodologies.

Photographs credits: Carlo Crovato, Avtonomi Academia & Michelle-Marie Letelier