ENG
Malleus Malefgicarum. The new pact.
performance
director: Iveta Pole
Video: Katrina neiburga
Sound: Maarja nuut
the Latvian National Theatre Award SpElmanu Nakts for Best Large-Format Performance 2023
created & performed by:
Iveta Pole, Katrina Neiburga, Agnese Krivade, Jette Loona Hermanis, Anika Barkan (Denmark), Lea Blau (Croatia), Maarja Nuut (Estonia), Martina Georgina (Malta), Irena Grauda
Costumes:Kristians Aglonietis, Anna Ansone
Lighting designer:Karolin Tamm (Estonia)
Premiere 3 June 2023, Riga Circus
Produced by:
INITIUM, Ieva Niedre, Minna Triin Kohv, Karina Zeļonka.
Costumes:Kristians Aglonietis, Anna Ansone
Lighting designer:Karolin Tamm (Estonia)
Premiere 3 June 2023, Riga Circus
Produced by:
INITIUM, Ieva Niedre, Minna Triin Kohv, Karina Zeļonka.
supported by:
State Culture Capital Foundation, Cultural Endowment of Estonia, KRASO foundation, Riga Circus, British Council Latvia.
Malleus Maleficarum. The new pact.
On 3 June 2023 at 19.00, Riga Circus we premiered " Malleus Maleficarum, The new pact. "- a Latvian and Estonian co-production by director Iveta Pole and seven other artists. ".
Written in 1486, Malleus Maleficarum, or "The Hammer of witches", was for centuries the world's best-selling book after the Bible. This book develops a legal-theological theory about the nature of women, portraying them as the inverted mirror of the normal (male) world and proving that women are inherently dangerous and untrustworthy. The most abominable of them are concubines, followed by midwives, and finally wives who rule over their husbands. "When a woman thinks , she thinks evil", writes Heinrich Kramer.
On 3 June 2023 at 19.00, Riga Circus we premiered " Malleus Maleficarum, The new pact. "- a Latvian and Estonian co-production by director Iveta Pole and seven other artists. ".
Written in 1486, Malleus Maleficarum, or "The Hammer of witches", was for centuries the world's best-selling book after the Bible. This book develops a legal-theological theory about the nature of women, portraying them as the inverted mirror of the normal (male) world and proving that women are inherently dangerous and untrustworthy. The most abominable of them are concubines, followed by midwives, and finally wives who rule over their husbands. "When a woman thinks , she thinks evil", writes Heinrich Kramer.
"The Hammer of witches" was widely used in witch trials around the world, but it is not a book about "witches", but about women, and is now seen as a precursor of Western misogyny. One of the conclusions of a major study by the University of Brussels on the history of the phenomenon from antiquity to the present: the image of the witch, the aesthetics and the myths of what witches do were created by men in positions of power in the Middle Ages. Some phenomena, such as the witches' sabbath, probably never had a counterpart in reality.
Our team, in reading this book, first of all asked ourselves about the future. Who will we be when it's all over? There is a widespread awakening from the distorted self-image of the 'male gaze', from the binaries of male/female territories, a reclamation of space and autonomy, an unlearning of the centuries-old hatred of the female or feminine body, mind and qualities. Contemporary feminism mostly defines itself in a conversation about what a woman is NOT, deconstructing the narratives created by patriarchy, yet what we were most interested in is what she IS. Let's call it post-apocalyptic feminism. Who was she before Malleus Maleficarum - and who will she be after, when there is nothing left to fight against?
Our team, in reading this book, first of all asked ourselves about the future. Who will we be when it's all over? There is a widespread awakening from the distorted self-image of the 'male gaze', from the binaries of male/female territories, a reclamation of space and autonomy, an unlearning of the centuries-old hatred of the female or feminine body, mind and qualities. Contemporary feminism mostly defines itself in a conversation about what a woman is NOT, deconstructing the narratives created by patriarchy, yet what we were most interested in is what she IS. Let's call it post-apocalyptic feminism. Who was she before Malleus Maleficarum - and who will she be after, when there is nothing left to fight against?
Director Iveta Pole:
"This story starts from the end. We go back in time, we bring ourselves back to the primordial, we suck ourselves back into the womb with a vacuum cleaner, before the time when the mark of shame was put on women's bodies and minds. Kramer wrote that he had met women more bitter than death. We want to eat something sweet, like an apple. To go back to the time before light was separated from darkness. To pull at the threads held by archetypes and stereotypes, the threads that eventually lead to our bodies. Kramer wrote that woman was created from a bent rib. She is the imperfect animal, completed by the animal itself. She is the rib that keeps on spinning".
"This story starts from the end. We go back in time, we bring ourselves back to the primordial, we suck ourselves back into the womb with a vacuum cleaner, before the time when the mark of shame was put on women's bodies and minds. Kramer wrote that he had met women more bitter than death. We want to eat something sweet, like an apple. To go back to the time before light was separated from darkness. To pull at the threads held by archetypes and stereotypes, the threads that eventually lead to our bodies. Kramer wrote that woman was created from a bent rib. She is the imperfect animal, completed by the animal itself. She is the rib that keeps on spinning".
LV
Malleus Maleficarum. Jaunais līgums.
Izrāde/ performance
Režisore: Iveta Pole
Video: Katrīna Neiburga
Skaņa: Maarja Nuut
Latvijas teātra gada balva Spēlmaņu nakts – Labākā lielās formas izrāde 2023
Radītāji un izpildītāji:
Iveta Pole, Katrīna Neiburga, Agnese Krivade, Jette Loona Hermanis, Anika Barkan (Dānija), Lea Blau (Horvātija), Maarja Nuut (Igaunija), Martina Georgina (Malta), Irēna Grauda
Kostīmi: Kristians Aglonietis, Anna Ansone
Gaismu māksliniece: Karolin Tamm (Igaunija)
Pirmizrāde: 2023. gada 3. jūnijs, Rīgas cirks
Producents: INITIUM, Ieva Niedre, Minna Triin Kohv, Karina Zeļonka
Atbalstītāji: Valsts kultūrkapitāla fonds, Igaunijas Kultūrkapitāla fonds, KRASO fonds, Rīgas cirks, British Council Latvia
“Malleus Maleficarum. Jaunais līgums.”
2023. gada 3. jūnijā plkst. 19.00 Rīgas cirkā notika pirmizrāde izrādei “Malleus Maleficarum. Jaunais līgums.” – Latvijas un Igaunijas kopražojumam, ko veidojusi režisore Iveta Pole kopā ar vēl septiņām māksliniecēm.
1486. gadā sarakstītais Malleus Maleficarum jeb “Raganu veseris” vairākus gadsimtus bija pasaulē pārdotākā grāmata aiz Bībeles. Šī grāmata izvērš juridiski teoloģisku teoriju par sievietes dabu, to attēlojot kā normālās (vīriešu) pasaules apgriezto spoguli, un pierādot, ka sievietes jau pēc savas dabas ir bīstamas un neuzticamas. Negantākās no viņām ir konkubīnes, tām seko vecmātes, un, visbeidzot - sievas, kas valda pār saviem vīriem. “Kad sieviete pati pie sevis domā, viņa domā ļaunu”, raksta grāmatas autors Heinrihs Krāmers. “Raganu veseris” tika plaši lietota raganu prāvās visā pasaulē, tomēr tā nav grāmata par “raganām”, bet gan par sievietēm, mūsdienās to uzlūko kā Rietumu mizogīnijas pirmtekstu. Viens no secinājumiem Briseles universitātes apjomīgajā pētījumā “Raganas”, kas aplūko šī fenomena vēsturi no senlaikiem līdz pat mūsdienām: raganas tēlu, estētiku un mītus par to, ko raganas dara, radījušivaras pozīcijās esoši vīrieši viduslaikos. Dažām parādībām, piemēram, raganu sabatam, visticamāk nekad nav bijis atbilsmes realitātē.
Mūsu komanda, lasot šo grāmatu, sev, pirmkārt, uzdeva jautājumu par nākotni. Kas mēs būsim tad, kad viss būs beidzies? Pašlaik plaši notiek pamošanās no “vīrieša skatiena” izkropļotā paštēla, no vīriešu/sieviešu teritoriju binaritātes, tiek atkarota telpa un autonomija, notiek atjēgšanās no gadsimtos iedzītā naida pret sievietes vai sievišķīgu ķermeni, prātu un īpašībām. Mūsdienu feminisms pārsvarā definē sevi sarunā par to, kas sieviete NAV, dekonstruējot patriarhāta radītos naratīvus, Tomēr tas, kas visvairāk interesēja mūs - kas viņa IR. Sauksim to par postapokaliptisko feminismu. Kas viņa bija pirms Malleus Maleficarum - un kas viņa būs pēc tam, kad vairs nebūs nekā, pret ko cīnīties?
Izrādes režisore Iveta Pole:
"Šis stāsts sākas no beigām. Mēs dodamies atpakaļ laikā, atdzemdējam sevi atpakaļ pirmresursā, ar putekļusūcēju iesūcam sevi atpakaļ dzemdē, pirms laika, kad sieviešu ķermeņiem un prātiem tika uzlikta kauna zīme. Krāmers rakstīja, ka ir sastapis sievietes rūgtākas kā nāve. Mēs gribam apēst kaut ko saldu, piemēram, ābolu. Aizēsties līdz laikam pirms gaisma tika nošķirta no tumsas. Vilkt pavedienus, ko glabā arhetipi un stereotipi, pavedienus, kas beigu galā aizved mūsu ķermenī. Krāmers rakstīja, ka sieviete tika radīta no saliekta kaula. Viņa ir nepabeigtais dzīvnieks, kuru pabeidz pats dzīvnieks. Viņa ir riba, kura turpina vērpties".
