Michikazu Matsune
Goodbye
10. November @ 20.30 (after unannounced)
Part of ‘Unwritten Conversations’ artist curated series
Happily or sadly, there are times in life one must say goodbye. Michikazu Matsune’s performance is based on farewell letters, written by various people for different reasons – featuring letters from Empress Maria Theresa to her daughter Marie Antoinette given on the day of her departure for France, from a blind man to his deceased guide-dog, from Kamikaze pilot to his children before his mission, Singer Curt Cubain’s suicide note, among many others. Combining reading and dancing, Goodbye tells stories of personal relationships, love and complication, read between the lines.
http://www.michikazumatsune.info
Performance: Michikazu Matsune
Artistic assistant: Andrea Gunnlaugsdóttir
Research assistant: Almud Krejza
Photo: Maximilian Pramatarov
Support: The Cultural Department of the City of Vienna, apap – Performing
Europe 2020
Length: 45-50 min
Premier: 2016
Michikazu Matsune born 1973 in Kobe, based in Vienna, is a performance-artist and choreographer who works in various contexts and spaces such as stage, museums, public and private spaces. His interest lies in testing poetic absurdity to reflect our society critically and playfully. His interdisciplinary performances investigate themes such as the relationship between action and language, body and objects, place and behavior. His recent solo-performances include For Now (2017) that deals with the experience of losing of his parents. Goodbye (2016) is a performance based on farewell letters written by various people. Dance, if you want to enter my country! (2015) deals with the story of African American dancer Abdur Rahim Jackson who was forced to dance at an airport’s passport control. Matsune’s project Homesick Festival (2017) featured a series of performances in private homes. The group-work Mattress Pieces (2016) was performed by four dancers with seven mattresses, dealing with mattresses as a place to sleep, love, dream and die. The performance Objective Point of View (2015) was made in collaboration with Russian artist Maxim Ilyukhin and explored their personal stories in the tension between cultural ascriptions and social identifications. Previously Matsune developed various projects in collaboration with Austrian artist David Subal including the shop of selling live-performances, Store (2005-2012), and One Hour Standing for (2005 – 2009), in which they stood still for 60 minutes in front of touristic monuments in 24 capital cities. Since 2012 Michikazu Matsune has taught performance at institutions including HZT / Hochschulübergreifendes Zentrum Tanz Berlin and Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance amongst others