Saturday 26th October

Witches' ointment - much cited in European witchcraft trials - was a plant preparation intended to be applied to the skin and mucous membranes of the rectum or vagina to generate altered states of consciousness. Like Ayaguasca in the Amazon, it was used to build the world with plants.

In this performance, we recreate this flight and tell a story about plants, trance, physiological, ecological, botanical and chemical knowledge. It's an old story of travelling plants, before the fateful 1492. We're going to pass through the obsidian mirror and, in the darkness, see the colours, pleasures and knowledge shining at the centre of our bodies: where people keep trying to destroy us.

The ‘Cream for Flying’ we've designed is a non-hallucinogenic update. It's a formulation for vaginal dryness, those forgotten mucous membranes, dried out by the menopause, chemotherapy, drugs and hormone treatments. It's also a cream for the neo-vaginas of trans women or for anuses in need of a cuddle. A cream to lift the silence that pathologises our pleasure, and to remind us that there can be no joy or knowledge without trans-species relationships.

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Choreographer, artist and researcher. Since 2014, aniara rodado has been conducting research-creation projects with plants, from a counter-colonial and transhackfeminist perspective, and in alliance with non-human beings. It's an artistic, theoretical and political approach designed to ward off epistemicides and ruptures in the knowledge created between humans and plants.

Sig Valax creates hybrid music using the Persephone and analogue and modular synthesizers. She composes organic pieces in which the whirring of machines is embodied in granular, sparkling, noisy sequences.

An applied arts teacher and media designer, Camille Olympie is developing a multi-disciplinary and transmedia practice. 2D 3D animation and video creation form an important part of her work.

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Discussion moderated by Aphélandra Siassia
A freelance journalist with a Master's degree in contemporary art history and a Master's in cultural journalism, Aphélandra Siassia is involved in intersectional feminist, social and artistic issues.
In her work as an editor, she seeks to make the voices of the unheard resonate, putting her commitment at the forefront.

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End of residency - creation 2024-2025
Music: Sigolène Valax
Video, live animation and general assistance: Camille Olympie
Lighting and fluid screens: Jean Marc Chomaz
Manufacture of glass objects: Jean-Michel Wierniezky
Video, installation, concept and choreography: aniara rodado
Cream for flying: aniara rodado, Société Genialis
In-residence support: transform! festival; l'AMI - aide aux musiques innovatrices.