Within an odd, colorful, steadily unfolding universe three heroines are hosting a picnic by the fountains, stumbling into a long overdue negotiation between themselves and their environment. A bleak reality of the planetary eco-collapse is insistently pushing them to tackle how they desire, portray and relate to resources essential to their life on earth.
Inspired by idyllic picnic paintings of Monet, Renoir, Manet and fountain scenes, from ancient Greek aqueducts to the allegorical Trevi fountain of the baroque, this work investigates their aesthetic and socio-performative situations: storytelling, power play and consumption. Situated in Scandinavia, the general portrayal of food and water is abundant, overflowing with choice and availability. What and how we consume is inseparably linked to lifestyle identity, so what is the future of what we are carrying in our picnic basket?
The Picnic & The Fountains appeared as two site specific choreographic performances at Skt. Hans Torv in Nørrebro and at Christianshavn in August 2021 and at Tårnby Park Performance Festival as a durational performance installation in June 2022.
Concept / choreography / performance by Nadja Bounenni, Joana Ellen Öhlschläger, Lara Vejrup Ostan
Set design by Anders Toft Pedersen
Production by KOMMA Performance Productions
Supported by Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen and Københavns Kommune
Photo credits Max Morris Doherty