Sous la plage

Marc Villanueva Mir, Gerard Valverde Ros, Mohammad Bitari

In May 1968, Paris was the scenario of an uprising in defence of freedom and against the established authority; an uprising that has become an icon in the European revolutionary tradition. Among the slogans shouted out on the streets, the most famous one was one that expressed the hope of finding a new beginning under the paving stones: Sous les pavés, la plage. However, the conflicts which had lately occurred in the Arab world have showed an opposite image to these words: hundreds of people drowning in the Mediterranean Sea; hundreds of people standing in front of a fence finding out that under the beaches of Europe there are paving stones as well.

Sous la plage is a lecture performance on the construction of the European discourse on the Arab springs and the so-called “refugee crisis”, and a electroacoustic concert on the construction of identity and memory. With the help of a series of sound and video players, played live by the Syrian-born Palestinian journalist Mohammad Bitari, Sous la plage orchestrates a composition of acoustic and visual landscapes through the use and contraposition of documents coming as much from media as from subjective discourses, with the aim of providing a space of personal and critical reflection to counter the flood of of Europe-biased news.

“Syria's hell has sent into exile almost five million refugees, including many activists who used art to denounce the oppression of the al-Assad’s regime. Mohammad Bitari is one of them. (...) Villanueva and Valverde remind us that ‘the refugee crisis is a European crisis’. A crisis that ‘is not humanitarian but political’.”
Cristina Mas, “Sous la plage: una altra mirada als refugiats”, Ara

Concept Marc Villanueva Mir & Gerard Valverde Ros
Performer Mohammad Bitari
Sound composition Gerard Valverde Ros
Text and direction Marc Villanueva Mir
Research and documentation Mireia Pérez
Teaser Mireia Pérez, Maria Besora
Photography Lydia Cazorla, Anna Pujol Batllosera
With the special collaboration of Mireia Sallarès

With special thanks to Francesc Abad, Xavier Aragall, Núria Font, Jaume Forés, Rita Gratacòs, Nuria Legarda, Cristina Mas, Alessia Neumann, Ioannis Papadopoulos, Marcus Sanders, Miquel Santaulària, Luisa Sancho Escanero, Laura Sanz, Lluís Serra, Closca Turla, Tantàgora Serveis Culturals, Associació Cultural La Trilateral, Mònica Rius, Lluc Valverde, Ricard Villanueva, Hanke Wilsman

A coproduction of Festival TNT - Terrassa Noves Tendències and Frankfurt LAB with the support of Sala d’Art Jove and Bòlit Contemporary Arts Centre, with the collaboration of European Institute of the Mediterranean, PEN International Catalan Centre and hangar.org

Production prize Art Jove 2016 and shortlisted work at the Stückemarkt 2017 of Berlin




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With
Gerard Valverde Ros

Previous dates

Lloret de Mar | Teatre de Lloret
7.12.18. 21h

Madrid | Festival ÍDEM
15.9.18. 22h
16.9.18. 22h

Barcelona | Festival Grec Pro
5.7.17. 16:30h

Barcelona | La Casa Elizalde
15.6.17. 19h

València | Festival Cabanyal Íntim
19.5.17. 19h

Barcelona | La Casa Elizalde
16.2.17. 20:30h

Barcelona | Sala Beckett
3.2.17. 19h
4.2.17. 19h

Girona | Bòlit
21.1.17. 20h

Terrassa | Festival TNT
1.10.16. 11h/ 16:30h/ 20h

Frankfurt am Main | Frankfurt LAB
26.8.16. 19h