ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS
In this new live performance, Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS attempt to imagine a Queer Utopia: post capitalist, post trauma, post addiction, post sadness, post joy — an After to the mess that came Before.
Image gallery
Palace of Ash and Rain | Ballhaus Ost
Palace of Ash and Rain | Ballhaus Ost
Palace of Ash and Rain | Ballhaus Ost
Don’t you know
They’re talking about a revolution?
There! You can see it through the trees. A tower, a wall, a path through the leaves. A place out of time.
Everyone is welcome at the Palace — but you have to leave everything behind: memories, your old life, even your name. For your new name, you can choose a colour: Rose, Turquoise, Fuchsia, Sage. There are rooms for sleeping, workshops, an infirmary and gardens. There’s karaoke sung in a brand new language. A lonely dance we dance once a year.
In this new live performance, Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS attempt to imagine a Queer Utopia: post capitalist, post trauma, post addiction, post sadness, post joy — an After to the mess that came Before.
Don’t you know you better run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run …
»Palace of Ash and Rain« is the fifth chapter of »With Forests in Our Mouths«, a durational constellation artwork made up of multiple interconnected chapters shared across 2024 and 2025 and including performances, films, exhibitions and publications.
Queer performance collective ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS make multidisciplinary performance works, often using the Queer constructed language Damiá as an artistic tool. In 2023, they left Berlin for a new home at the edge of the forest in North Karelia, Finland.
ACCESSIBILITY
»Palace of Ash and Rain« aims to create a more accessible performance space for both audience and performers. Audience lighting levels will remain at a level where it is possible to move around and to leave the space if necessary. Alternative seating options will be available. The doors to the performance space will open at 19:30 and audiences are welcome to come and join us there to relax and get comfortable, listen to music, or ask questions until the performance begins at 20:00.
Doors open at 19:30
Additional information
Text, direction, performance ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS
Light Elliott Cennetoglu
Sound Jean P’ark
Image Óscar González
»With Forests in Our Mouths« is a multi-chapter constellation artwork supported in 2024/25 by the Kone Foundation, and part of the Metsän puolella community of arts and research projects. »Palace of Ash and Rain«, the fifth chapter of the work, is a ONCE WE WERE ISLANDS production in cooperation with Ballhaus Ost and Theater neben dem Turm.
Dates
October 2024
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