Performances

Bird

• “Bird” 2023
• Photo: Pol Guillard

Profile

• Selma Ouissi, born 1975 in Tunis, Tunisia. Based in Tunis, Tunisia and Paris, France.
• Sofiane Ouissi, born 1972 in Tunis, Tunisia. Based in Tunis, Tunisia.

Bird is a work created by the Tunisian-born brother-and-sister duo of Selma and Sofiane Ouissi. It was inspired by their encounter with doves that lived in what had once been a movie theater. At that time, the space that formerly existed there for people and their stories had been turned into a sanctuary for other living beings. Seeing this phenomenon, they said there arose in their minds the earnest question of how we who have experienced isolation during the pandemic again live together with nature. On the stage, a dancer and a dove share the same space and engage in an unpredictable dialogue by means of their bodies while respecting each other’s existence.
The Ouissi pair have thus far made works that take the human body, memory, and social relationships as their themes while crossing the boundaries between various media, including choreography, videos, and installations. In 2007, they jointly established L’Art Rue, a platform aimed at social change through art. In Tunis, the capital of the Republic of Tunisia, the two launched Dream City, a multi-disciplinary art festival, for which they also serve as the co-directors. They are attracting attention as creators driving the art scene in Arabian countries and North Africa.
In 2023, Bird was performed at venues including the Sharjah Biennial, the Festival d’Automne, and KANAL-Centre Pompidou (Brussels). Its poetic and subtle expression rethinks the essence of “living together” in various parts of the world. In it, a dove and a person interact as life forms with roots here and there in an urban environment. When we watch it, will we human beings be able to find a new involvement with other creatures, without considering ourselves privileged existences? By transcending anthropocentric perspectives, we can carve out new relations with existences that are accidental, uncertain acquaintances.

Selected performances and screening

2024

“Bird,” Festival d’Automne (Paris, France)

2023

“Bird,” Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (UAE)

2020

Video screening, “Wajdan,” Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (UAE)

2017

“Le moindre geste,” 49 Nord 6 Est Frac Lorraine (Metz, France)

2014

“Les yeux d’Argos,” Tate Modern (London, UK)

Related Information

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  • Contemporary Art