CoTranspose, three-week residency in Dikaia, Greece in July and August 2024.
During the residency, I dwelled in folklore gossip and songs, borders we both fear and long to cross, and water and land memory. Coming from Bulgaria and inheriting distant Greek roots I looked into the shared Thrace history that once united the land of that region, searching for a link between past and present. The research took the shape of a sonic performance, for which I created a stone-string instrument and a traditionally inspired costume.
๐๐ เฝผ๐๐๏น๏น๐๐ เฝผ๐๐๏น๏น๏น๐๐ เฝผ๐๐๏น๏น๏นโ๏ธ
My project at CoTranspose collaborated with local human and non-human beings, and it was about researching the regionโs sonic history and borders. During my stay, I learned from women in the village about their culture and customs. It was interesting to notice the many cultural similarities between North Greece and South Bulgaria, despite the difference in language. I took inspiration from theirs and my own cultureโs traditional costumes and I put together a performance costume.
I dived into the ancient Thracian history of Orpheus and the land before its present borders. I read relevant books and I wrote a textual piece that can be found below. During the residency, the rest of the participants and I visited a stone quarry, which played a significant role in the history of the region. From there I was allowed to take a stone, which I turned into a musical instrument. I had some small materials brought with me from The Netherlands like stone shaping tools, and some music tools. I connected guitar strings and fishing wires to metal and wood parts which I could pluck and slide on. The sound was then amplified and modulated with a microphone and an effect pedal.
At the end of the residency, I performed my work at an abandoned amphitheater in Dikaia, in front of the region's inhabitants, part of a three-day festival.
ะะทะธะบ, ะทะตะผั, ะฒัะตะผะต, ะทะฐะตะดะฝะพ, ัะฐะทะดะตะปะฝะพ. ะะธะฒะตะตะผ ะฟะพะด ัะปัะฝัะตัะพ ะฟัะตะบะฐะปะตะฝะพ ะดัะปะณะพ. ะะดะฝะพ ะฒัะตะผะต ัะผะต ะฑะธะปะธ ะตะดะฝะพ ััะปะพ.
Language, land, time, together, apart. Under the sun, we have lived for far too long. Once we were one.
Oh time, I have collected the ancient stones. I came from the water, from the sea, black as tar. I have talked to the people to whom this land gave birth. The Odrysian kingdom, ever so vast; my homeland, where my roots run deep in the earth. My roots, turning from seaweed to ground, from ground to sand, from sand to time. You show me the past and whisper the future. I know Medea, the sorceress that rides a golden chariot, I know Orithyia, the queen of winds, Bendis for her hunt, Cotys, Enyo, The Orphic Mysteries.
Oh time, I, Orphea lived then, now and after. I sing your story, rooted in conquest, aggression, conflict, and oppression and for many years I have collected the blood spilled on these thracian rocks. With it, I draw the lines that separate us, that keep us apart. The walls, fences, barriers, borders, dykes, and rivers. From The North, The South, The East, The West. In a million years, we won't be here and the land will become one again. Your job will be done, we will be one, we will be whole, and we will be resting below.
Oh time, do not be cruel. Let the Odrysian people find each other, let them meet, eat, drink, and dance together. Do not put more borders, do not split apart. I see the connections, I see the thread, we are one people, we never left. You never forget but we did. History turns into stories, then into myths. Fast forward to the future, will we be still divided or one as we once did?
