Museum Night at Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam
02/11/2009

Melanie Bonajo -Opera for Glossolalia: Demons, Devils, Angels, Monsters and Other Intermediate Beings

8:00 through 10:30 p.m.

Followed by guided tours of the exhibition ‘Long Live Matriarchy!’

On Museum Night Melanie Bonajo will present a continuous performance of Opera for Glossolalia. This will be done in cooperation with Maia Lyon-Daw and Joseph Marzolla.

Our modern means of communication increasingly lead to the merger of people and machines. In her performance Bonajo investigates the computerised extensions of the human body and the existence of spirits in modern inventions that rob people of their natural capacity to communicate with one another by means of the senses and their own mediumistic gifts. She experiments with new forms of driving out demons, of exorcism, such as purifying bodies, objects and spaces by means of contemporary ritual. Through these rituals the viewer becomes an active component in the performance: a mobile human installation that produces sound.

In her performances Bonajo immerses herself in the origins of belief systems and creates new rituals in order to emphasise their function in society. They can be regarded as a symbolic ‘intercom’ for the chaotic, mystic ideas, emotional patterns and cultural misinterpretations that float between the inner depths and the relatively ‘thin’ state of consciousness that rules our daily lives.

The performance is presented against the background of the exhibition ‘Long Live Matriarchy!’ by Mathilde ter Heijne. It too makes use of magical symbols and rituals that seek to provide an answer to the patriarchal culture ruled by automatic processes that characterises our present society.

The presentation of Opera for Glossolalia consists of a continuous performance running from 8:00 to 10:30 p.m. After that, by request you can have a guided tour of the exhibition ‘Long Live Matriarchy!'

Melanie Bonajo, Opera for Glossolalia: Demons, Devils, Angels, Monsters and Other Intermediate Beings is performed in cooperation with Maia Lyon-Daw and Joseph Marzolla, assisted by Janneke Raaphorst, Celine Wouter and others.