The Water Runs Through It: Tools for Water

Artists Michelle Samour and Sue Rees and dancers Souleymane Badolo and Abdoul Aziz Dermé explore the politicization of water access in this collaborative performance project presented in connection with Samour’s installation The Water Runs Through It: Tools for Water, on view in the group exhibition, Making Space. The performance will be followed by a Q&A.

The performance uses the trope of the divining rod—a classically ‘Y’ shaped branch used by a dowser to locate ground water. Drawing upon this unscientific method that is dependent upon the “divine” energies of the dowser, the work intimates that power, control, and folly are in the hands of individuals making far-reaching decisions about water access and distribution.

Michelle Samour’s ongoing work about her Palestinian ancestral past investigates the Israeli government’s control of water in the occupied territories to further disempower and disenfranchise the Palestinians. Through her art, Samour explores the intersections among science, technology, and the natural world, and the socio-political repercussions of redefining borders and boundaries. She has exhibited worldwide and has been a scholar-in-residence at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France. She has been an artist-in-residence at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, the Banff Centre in Canada, and P.R.I.N.T. Press in Denton, Texas. She is Faculty Emerita SMFA at Tufts University.

Souleymane Badolo’s activism and investigations into indigenous divination practices and the water crisis in his home country of Burkina Faso have led to the repair and construction of numerous wells. His professional career began as a dancer for the DAMA traditional African dance company. In 1993, he founded his Burkina Faso-based troupe, Kongo Ba Téria, fusing traditional African and Western contemporary dance. He has created solo projects commissioned and presented by Dancespace, New York Live Arts, Harlem Stage, the 92nd Street Y, and the Museum of Art and Design. He has been an artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University and Mount Tremper Arts. He is Assistant Faculty of Dance at Bard College.

Abdoul Aziz Dermé was born in Burkina Faso in West Africa and has danced on major stages in Africa, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, the U.S., and South America. He teaches dance and directs the company Cie Aziz/Urban-Impro Danse. He collaborates with “Roots of Love” in Burkina Faso, with whom he created six wells in six villages.

Sue Rees has exhibited her installations, animations, and video works worldwide, and has worked collaboratively with choreographers, directors, and musicians producing sets and projections in the United States, Europe, Africa, and India. Rees received a BESSIE for set design and two Fulbright Research Grants, among other accolades.

Photos and videos may be taken during this event for use in BMAC promotional materials.

• Registration recommended; walk-ins welcome.

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