Licht
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20.04.202320:00 - 22:00KVS, BrusselsKVS BOL
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21.04.202320:00 - 22:00KVS, BrusselsKVS BOL
In 2014, ISIS carried out attacks on the Yazidis, a religious minority in northern Iraq. After executing a large part of the male population, they captured the women. By gynaecological examinations, the captured women were divided into three groups: married women with children, married women without children, and virgin women and girls. Considered as spoils of war, over 7000 women and girls have become sexual slaves to the ISIS fighters, enduring repeated rapes, subsequent forced abortions and torture.
Because of the industrial scale of the sexual violence, this story has become much more than an isolated atrocity. It has become the iconic story of the violation of the female body today.
The immensity of this tragedy leaves it uncommunicable. How does one share or understand an experience so universal yet so profoundly rooted and locked in the body, in the space that precedes and mutes language? For this new creation Tea Tupajić calls upon the force and depth of theatre to enter where language and other mediums cannot. Throughout a period of one year, she invites four Yazidi women to retreat and to embark on a journey of preparation for the performance.
The creation will only be performed a handful of times in a few cities. On a naked theatre stage, the women share the most visceral experiences and memories of the body. The body tells the story in words, shakes and faints, connecting with the spectator in a collective, yet intimate encounter.
The nights resemble a vigil. An expulsion of the past wounds, a healing and an ecstatic celebration of survival.

KVS x Kaaitheater
Tea Tupajić (Sarajevo, 1984) is a theatre and film director. Often engaging in long processes with invited protagonists who always seem to either be reluctant to be on stage or to have a lot to lose by doing so, she investigates the potential of art when confronted with controversial political and personal issues.
Her work has most recently been described as a «glacially paced journey into the world of darkness» (Modern Times Review, Nov 2021). Tupajić’s internationally presented works include DARK NUMBERS (2018), Spy School (2016); The Disco (2015); Variété Europe «Orpheus» (2013); Objects’ game (2012); The Curators’ Piece (in collaboration with Petra Zanki, 2011); La maladie de la mort (2009).
Her latest work, first feature length film Darkness There and Nothing More (2021), celebrated its world premiere at the IDFA Envision competition.Tea Tupajić is a published writer and has served as a guest editor for the performing arts magazine Frakcija.