“Memory Islands”

Chloe Bellemere (FR) et Inga Galinyte (LT) forment un duo artistique multidisciplinaire explorant le thème de la mémoire à travers leur processus créatif ‘Memory Islands’. Elles s’intéressent aux différentes couches de la mémoire: celles que nous entretenons consciemment et celles que nous rangeons dans les recoins de notre mémoire inconsciente.

Les souvenirs sont quelque chose que nous portons tous en nous. Des plus joyeux aux plus traumatisants, ils nous façonnent, nous émeuvent et nous guident tout au long de notre vie, influençant nos pensées et nos émotions, créant des schémas de comportement et impactant notre perception du monde, même si nous ne nous en souvenons plus consciemment. Inspirées par les créatures abyssales, les figures mythologiques, les souvenirs personnels et collectifs ainsi que l'environnement naturel, comme les paysages océaniques, les îles et les volcans, le duo posent la question: jusqu’où pouvons-nous aller en nous souvenant?

En expérimentant divers médiums artistiques, y compris l'installation, la performance, le texte et la vidéo, ‘Memory Islands’ a été activé lors de résidences à la Cité Internationale des Arts à Paris (2021), à Amaneï sur l'île sicilienne de Salina (2023), ainsi qu'au Watermill Center à travers le programme Artists-in-residence et le International Summer Program à New York (2023, 2024). Le processus de ‘Memory Islands’ est soutenu par le Goethe-Institut, le Lithuanian Council for Culture, la Byrd Hoffman Foundation, et le Trust for Mutual Understanding (TMU).

Memory Islands — A Laboratory: 100 Years of Experimentation
Long Island US, 2024

Performance activée au Watermill Center pour le gala d’été annuel ‘A Laboratory: 100 Years of Experimentation’’

“Le murmure des coquillages n'est rien d'autre que l'écho des mémoires qui se heurtent, des vies qui s'entrechoquent dans les abysses du temps.”1

Sur un amas de coquillages vides aux allures d’os, deux performeuses semblent plongées dans leur monde intérieur. Tantôt en contact l'une avec l'autre, tantôt éloignées, elles se laissent submerger par des souvenirs éveillés au gré des murmures des coquillages que leurs interactions provoquent. Les lignes de leurs corps deviennent des paysages naturels, des créatures abyssales, des monstres mythologiques, tandis que des phrases à peine audibles de scènes quotidiennes, mi-érotiques mi-cauchemardesques, surgissent par fragments.

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What sleeps inside you – she whispers. Another storm – we witness. We shake in silence and breathe in circles. We spiral into the hemispheres. The abyssal memories emerge, listen to their shape. Re-shape. Re-play. Play. Pick up the shell, come closer. We have met before.

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Performance (2h)
Conception, performance . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
Sound . Dario Felli
Costum . Flavia Ruggeri

1. Amin Maalouf “Les Désorientés“ (2012)

Memory Islands — Foster Memorial Beach
Long Island US, 2024

Récolte collective activée à Foster Memorial Beach avec les participants du programme d’été 2024 du Watermill Center.

Nous leur avons donné rendez-vous sur la plage de Memorial Foster Beach (Long Island) un matin de juillet 2024. En silence, debout, les pieds immergés dans la mer, nous leur avons progressivement demandé de se remémorer un souvenir — quelque chose de lourd, qui leur pèse encore — et dont ils souhaitent se libérer.

Look . Breath . Dig in . Feel . Move . Search . Pick . Collect . Entrust it . Float away

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Récolte collective
Conception . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
Participants . Adelina Larsson Mendoza, Alen Nsambu, Alex Bard, Amon Wendel, Dai Asano, Elena Meoni, Evelyn Dugan, Flavia Ruggeri, Mylan Hoezen, Robson Catalunha, Tez, Noémie Stevens, Truth Colon, et Sara Thaiz Bozano.

Memory Islands — In Process
Long Island US, 2023

Extrait sonore et photographies de la performance activée au Watermill Center pour In Process.

how far can you remember?

deep breath . deep breath . deep breath . deep breath . deeper breath . something’s moving *clic* . deep breath. something’s moving *clic* slowly . stop. Silence.—.*clic*.—.*clic*. *clic* . something tiny’s *clic* moving . very little . slowly . shy thing . *clic* . moving . *clic*.—.*clic*.*clic* . have we met before? . *clic*. Pause . Silence.—.echograph. on. Silence . feverish sounds. drawing circules . lemniscate . bigger . lemniscate lawder . abyssal creatures . eyes open . dark light . I know you are there . Silence . Mike turn on . dry mouth. tap tap.—.tap tap . murmured. tap tap . one two one two.—. tap one just one . two one two . one two one two . something’s waking up. one two one two . one two want you . one two . one two . one . two . one . two . one . tyou . want . you . one two . want . tyou . one . two . want . to . want . to . want to . want . two . one . two . one . to . want . to-one . to-one . to-one . t-one . to . An . ne . en . toi . ne . An . toi . ne . en . toi

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Performance (35 minutes)
Conception, texte, performance . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte

Memory Islands — Flying Point Beach
Long Island US, 2023

Filmed performance activated at Flying Point Beach during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Watermill Center.

Beach walkers passing by were asked to share a memory — the first one that emerge — while thinking of Long Island. Those who agreed first sitted on a chair facing the wild ocean, before sharing it on a blue note, placing it in a jar, and disappearing away.

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Filmed performance (45 minutes)
Concept, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
Participants . Evening beach walkers

Memory Islands — Pollara
Salina IT, 2023

Activated at Pollara during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Amaneï.

In a dreamlike slow motion, two silhouettes converge upon a rock that appears as an island. Through their movements, they trace the hidden memories of the local inhabitants, while the temporality of everyday life around them flows by, made tangible by the rippling of the water and the passing of a swimmer.

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Video (20 minutes)
Concept, performance, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
Irruption of the real. British bather

Memory Islands — Portella
Salina IT, 2023

Activated on Prehistoric Village of Portella during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Amaneï.

The olive tree, with its millennia of existence, has the ability to regenerate after periods of devastation such as fires or droughts. This resilience and longevity endow it with the symbolism of immortality. Yannick Haenel writes in "Jan Karski" (2009): "The olive tree carries within it the eternity of days gone by. It bears witness to the earth's memory, to the passage of centuries as a slow transformation, preserving the scars of time in the softness of its leaves."

On the heights of the prehistoric village of Portalla, on the Sicilian island of Salina, an olive tree stands against the vast sky. In the background, two evanescent silhouettes sketch and blend local inhabitants’s memories and mythological figures that transcendes human lives.

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Video (10 minutes)
Concept, performance, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte

Memory Islands — Cité
Paris, 2021

Performance installation activated at Cité internationale des arts for Ateliers ouverts.

We are all haunted by our memories, and sometimes by others' memories. That's why objects are important. They carry pieces of people and time with them.

In the softly lit interior of a room in the residence, where the entrance is nearly obstructed by a wardrobe, two performers engage with objects from their personal lives. These items, meticulously chosen for their sensory or emotional significance, are arranged on a mound of overturned furniture. As they are moved and combined, they recreate still lifes within a collective landscape. Through the interplay of these objects, their movements, and the resulting compositions, the performers seek to evoke forgotten memories.

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Performance installation (4 heures)
Concept, performance . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte