
Ocean Cage will be shown twice during Borealis.
Friday 14 March
20.00 Festival Bar in Landmark opens
21.00–22.30 Ocean Cage
The Festival Bar is open after the performance
Saturday 15 March
15.00–16.30 Ocean Cage
Tianzhuo Chen – Director
Siko Setyanto – Choreography & Performance
Nova Ruth – Music
Kadapat – Music
Chenting Yu – Costume
Una Ryu – Make-Up
Diane Esnault – Textile Design, Assistant & Stage Management
Raquel Rosildete – Lighti Design
Akihiko Tanida – Light Design
Martin Ortiz – Sound Design
Francisca Marques – Technical Director
Paul Mede – Technical Production
partner in crime – Production and Management
Photo: Takuya Matsumi
“Baleo! Baleo!"
When this call is heard on the coast of Lamalera, a remote fishing village on the island of Lembata in Indonesia, the fishermen have spotted a whale. At the same time, this expression implies more, as it also means that with the appearance of the whale, the ancestors show themselves and offer a present, as a blessing from God. The ocean has opened up and offers its gifts. It is a call that challenges fate and has existed for centuries, in struggle, worship and redemption.
For the annual collaboration between Borealis and Bergen Kunsthall, director Tianzhuo Chen and dancer and choreographer Siko Setyanto activate their performance scenography on show as part of the exhibition Everything Is So Alive! and reflect on life in Lamalera where traditional fishing and whaling still plays a central role. In the immersive setting created by Chen, Ocean Cage combines elements of installation, film and dance to create the space for the performance, in which Setyanto becomes the central protagonist in changing characters. Together with the Indonesian musicians Kadapat and Nova Ruth, a visual, dance and musical maelstrom is created in which tradition and ecology, spirituality and technology, beliefs in progress and interspecies symbiosis are whirled together.