Selin Davasse, “Unlace My Syntax”, performance

24 & 26 May 2022, 19:00

“Unlace my Syntax” transposes the figure of the Tamada and the socio-political space of the Georgian meal to Pickle Bar, devising a complex interaction ritual revolving around the speech genre of toasting and the communal musicking traditions of Georgian polyphonic singing. Conventionally, the Tamada strives to flaunt his rhetorical virtuosity, not to convince or convert, but to reinforce beliefs he presumes to be already held by his audience. In lieu of the traditional ideals of country and family, Selin Davasse’s Tamada presupposes her community’s valorization of plurality, solidarity and accountability.

Concept, Text, Performance: Selin Davasse
Custom Suit: Situationist
Hair Design: Henriette Theurgarten
Musical Arrangements: Dorothee Barall
Leaflet Design: Ozan Şanal (Studio Abo)
Leaflet Photography: Joseph Kadow
Custom Nails: Camilla Inge Volbert

Thanks to: Billy Bultheel, Lewon Heublein, Julius Pristauz, Christian Stemmler, Okşan Svastics

Selin Davasse (b. 1992, Turkey) lives and works in Berlin. Her research-based performance practice repurposes disparate literary and performative techniques to engage with ethics and politics from alternative presents and speculative futures. Composed of narrative and sonic textures, her work condenses systems of thought into intimate feminine expressions; and takes shape as spoken-and-sung performances with participatory, playful, and parodic layers forming heterogeneous hospitable relations with the audience.

MERCH: new t-shirt available “Traduttore, Traditore” UPCOMING: Mekhitar Garabedian, Garine Gokceyan, "Auditive Voyeurism", 8 November 2024, storytelling in dialogue