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What Is War
Wen Hui & Eiko Otake

Wen Hui and Eiko Otake in front of a black background. Their bodies intertwined, with concentrated and strained expressions on their faces. The pale light has an oppressive effect
Wen Hui and Eiko Otake on a dark stage, entwined. Wen Hui in a falling motion, Eiko holding her with great effort. (EN)
Wen Hui and Eiko Otake in front of a black background. Their bodies intertwined, with concentrated and strained expressions on their faces. The pale light has an oppressive effect (EN)
Wen Hui and Eiko Otake in front of a black background. Their bodies intertwined, with concentrated and strained expressions on their faces. The pale light has an oppressive effect
Wen Hui and Eiko Otake on a dark stage, entwined. Wen Hui in a falling motion, Eiko holding her with great effort. (EN)
Wen Hui and Eiko Otake in front of a black background. Their bodies intertwined, with concentrated and strained expressions on their faces. The pale light has an oppressive effect (EN)

Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt

Fr. 31.10. | 20:00 Uhr, German premiere Sa. 1.11. | 20:00 Uhr, Artist talk afterwards So. 2.11. | 18:00 Uhr

Duration: approx. 70 minutesLanguage: English, Chinese, Japanese with German surtitlesTickets: €25 / €12 reduced

Synopsis

What marks does war leave behind – on the body and in the collective memory of subsequent generations? In What is War two artists come together whose stories are each connected in different ways with the same war in a deeply personal duet: the Chinese choreographer Wen Hui, who grew up during the Cultural Revolution, and the Japanese dancer Eiko Otake, a child of the post-war period in Japan. Together they interrogate the signs of violence that are written into bodies – both their own and those of many others. Starting with intense research into so-called “comfort women” – the women trafficked and systematically abused by the Japanese army in World War Two – they weave dance, video and text together into a moving reflection on memory, trauma and the continuing effects of historical guilt. What is War is not an historical reconstruction, but a radically contemporary, poetic and political gesture. Amid new wars and global crises, Wen Hui and Eiko Otake remind us how fragile – and how precious – each individual life is.

Tip: Before the performance, we will be showing the documentary film “No Rule is our Rule” by Wen Hui & Eiko Otake – free of charge in Studio 1.
Workshop with Wen Hui & Eiko Otake on November 3.

The play deals with war, death, and violence. It contains nudity.

What are indications regarding content and sensory stimuli?

Credits

Collaboratively created and performed: Wen Hui & Eiko Otake
Lighting Design: David A. Ferri
Dramaturgy: Iris McCloughan
Original Mirror Design: Carina Rockart
Mirror Construction: Paul Martin and Holly Jones
Mirror Construction (Europe): Technical Department of Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Stage Manager: Stefan Matheke & Uwe Dittrich)

A Commission by the Walker Art Center, co-commissioned by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, CAP UCLA (Center for the Art of Performance) and the Colorado College Theater & Dance Department. The creation of this work was supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project.

Photos: Jingqiu Guan