“Extinction Room (Hopeless.)” is a performative, multi-channel sound installation comprised of recordings of extinct and endangered species of birds.
Throughout a soundscape of bird calls, cries and songs, developed in collaboration with composer AGF (aka Antye Greie), three performers recount the stories of these species. Scientific narratives of extinction interweave with myths. Folk songs and dances are brought to life. The emotional load – the sorrow – is intensified by the performers who lead the audience through these traumatic experiences of loss, and of losses yet to come.
The performance will take place on Thursday August 16, from 8 PM, at Corneliu Miklosi Museum. Participation is free of charge.
Extinction Room has toured throughout Europe, including shows at Piatra Neamț Theater Festival, Europalia Arts Festival (Bozar, Brussels), Tanznacht Berlin (Uferstudios), Artdanthé Festival (Vanves), ImPulsTanz (Vienna), DansFabrik (Brest), Bazaar Festival (Prague), Impulse Theater Festival (Mülheim an der Ruhr), Latitudes Contemporaines (Lille), Claiming Common Spaces IV (PACT Zollverein, Essen), Feminist Futures Festival (SZENE, Salzburg), and Antistatic (Toplocentrala, Sofia).
Concept and choreography: Sergiu Matis
Choreographic collaboration: Martin Hansen, Manon Parent
Performance: Martin Hansen, Sergiu Matis, Manon Parent
Sound installation and composition: AGF aka Antye Greie
Text: Philip Ingman, Sergiu Matis, Mila Pavićević
Research: Philip Ingman
Dramaturgy: Mila Pavićević
Sound: Ivan Bartsch
Co-produced by: 4Culture Association and Tanzfabrik Berlin.
Supported by: the NATIONALES PERFORMANCE NETZ International
Guest Performance Fund for Dance, which is funded by the Federal Government
Commissioner for Culture and the Media; apap – FEMINIST FUTURES – a project co-
funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union; AFCN (Romania); the
Romanian Cultural Institute; Radialsystem Berlin; and ICI-CCN Montpellier – Occitanie as
part of Life Long Burning (LLB) – Towards a Sustainable Eco-System for Contemporary
Dance in Europe, supported by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
Animal recordings are courtesy of the Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
and the Xeno-canto Foundation.