Prishtinë – Mon Amour, Wall Piece
How does it feel to live in Prishtinë?
Like you sing a melody with all your heart and run against a wall. Again and again and again.
In summer 2012 tobibienz, Astrit Ismaili & Rina Kika created a performance art project around this question. For two months they revitalised the burned ruin of the former sports hall “Boro Ramiz”. The project grew – there were over 120 participants and 2000 visitors. Media coverage picked up, even the New York Times covered the story.
The wall piece was the core element of “PRISHTINË – Mon Amour”
“How does it feel to live in Prishtinë?”, tobibienz went to many different places to find answers: schools, cafés, bars, nursing homes and boxing clubs. 39 people with different ages and backgrounds performed together to combine their individual answers to a cluster.
They were singing together, walking slowly towards a wall. Each time they reach the wall, their bodies hit the wall, then they walked backwards and moved again towards the wall. As the intensity of their voices increased, they moved faster and faster, until they reached a peak and started again at zero.
The audience needed to find its way through this waves of singing human bodies to see the rest of the show. Some members of the audience participated spontaneously in the performance.
Prishtinë – Mon Amour, Wall Piece
by tobibienz & people of Prishtinë
Form: Performance
Duration: 60 min
Venue: Ruins of the sportarena “Boro Ramiz”, Palace for Youth and Sport, Prishtinë (Kosovo)
Date: 08.11.2012
credits:
work by tobibienz
camera: Ilir Hasanaj, Brillant Pireva
photography: Jetmir Idrizi, Majlinda Hoxha and tobibienz
music & sound: Liburn Jupolli and tobibienz
scenography: James Stodgel, Rina Kika
montage: Felix Hergert
