- 9 Apr 2022 3 pm UTC
- dur 61 min
“What is our homeland? Is it not the plains? Is it not the high mountains without bark? …” I. Polemis. Is it not the smell of it? The taste of it? What color is it? Isn’t it the teleconferences? Do you have marks on your body from home? Were the actors asked about this presentation? When can we meet? Are we gonna die? No more of this postmodern sense of nostalgia! On the 26th January, 2021, Omada7, held a live online presentation of the work in progress of its new show “Is it not the plains?”. It was the result so far of the multifaceted research of the contributors on the concept of homeland and the individual place of reference using the devised theatre approach. The material of the multimedia performance was evolved through different creative processes and presented live when the theaters reopened. In times of confinement, Omada7 resisted the “suspension” of creativity and in fact its disposal. In a period of introversion, isolation and lack of freedom, Omada7 decided to actively pursue its collective research. To experiment with “new” ways and “new” available artistic media born in the expanded space of a digital room. To explore the notion of homeland and place of reference, in the condition of electronic non-place and unconventional physical contact. The second quarantine, just before the start of the group\’s rehearsals, led to the result to be shared in the online presentation, work in progress, but also to feedback on the goal of the premiere, which, if necessary, will be done in another invented non-“physical” way and place. “Our hope is that this effort will serve as a complementary, comforting, part of a mosaic. As one of the intertwined ways of exploring patterns of expression of performative events, today, and for the future, when we can revisit.” Omada7
Omada7 is a performing arts group founded in 2003. It has produced twenty-two productions so far, involving at least 15 artists and volunteers each time. Omada7 aims at investigating the cultural particularities of Greece in dialogue with the forms and methods of post-modern /metadramatic theatre. Over the years the group has expanded with the collaboration of theatre researchers, visual artists, photographers and musicians aiming at the interaction between different kinds of art. The collective basis of the group focuses on the creation process which aims at setting a common space where different and sometimes opposing aesthetics match through the personal expression of each partner. What’s more, performers take an active part in the research process and non-performers very often use performative ways to communicate their ideas. The work of the group is evolving around two main axes: a) the cultural particularities of the country and b) the use and twist of postmodern theatre methods and techniques. Exploitation and management of different spaces is included in this framework as well as site specific projects. Audiovisual materials, in any form, are also a part of the group’s research and are very often used in an autonomous way as installations. Text is often based on compositions of diverse materials (such as articles, personal stories, literary works) in dialogue with plays. This re-construction comes as a possible, alternative answer to the constant public demand for true stories.