RAIR Philly

Esther and Bamba Diagne in performance at Icebox Space at end of RAIR Residency. All costumes created and built at RAIR. 

In this performance installation we wear large upcycled sculptures. Our dance is a moving meditation on change, water cycles, and migration. The audience is immersed in video and participatory actions. This transnational collaboration is supported from a residency at RAIR. Esther and Bamba met in Senegal in 2004 when Esther was a guest choreographer in Dakar. In June 2023 we collaborated with La Ville En Mouvment/Propelled Animals on a large-scale performance procession in Oakham, Senegal. We built costumes and portable installations from recycled materials such as recycled plastic water bags and bottles, aluminum cans, used clothing and bags, fabric, wires, tree branches, and leaves. While in residency at RAIR we are making sculptures with recycled materials from around the region and a daily physical practice next to Lenape Sippue/Delaware River. Both our work intersects with nature and recycling. In Senegal, recycling is integrated into society out of economic necessity. Recycling is the norm and is integrated into daily living in the family, the market, and the arts. This is in contrast to North Americans producing the most garbage per family in the world. We are interested in learning more about Philly culture by looking at the items that are recycled at RAIR and creating a performance in response to the materials activating with video, sound, dance, and installation.