Output details

Bodies of Memory

Devised theatrical performance

‘Bodies of Memory’ is a practice-led research project directed by Templeton and is part of a larger project, ‘Arts and Legacy’. The research questions what can be learnt from what remains in the memory of past performances, seen or created, that is not available in existing documents; it also questions the different ways in which such memory might be reactivated into a new work for performance. The investigation was stimulated by the discrepancies between the identification of sporadic periods of performance by market-driven media and its actual continued life and activities; not least by the Tate’s own chronology of the History of Performance as written on the wall at the Tate Modern’s new performance venue The Tanks.

40 artists, curators and audiences of the last 35 years in Britain were invited to participate, working with memories of being an audience member or performer in a performance work and bringing these to life either verbally or physically. The participants were chosen to represent a neglected period in British and international performance. Templeton discussed with each participant the theatrical or performance work they wished to include in the project. She then developed an approach that foregrounded the effort to remember as part of the work.

The project culminated in a large-scale performance, ‘Bodies of Memory’ on 5th October 2012, involving 35 performers over 4 hours in the entire Clore Wing of Tate Britain, 10 rooms in all. The performance of ‘Bodies of Memory’ was attended by approximately 3000 visitors. Excerpts from the documentation are posted on the website of my company, http://www.therelationship.org/, and on Vimeo, http://vimeo.com/78067644 The larger project ‘Acts of Legacy’ showcased 12 artists and produced the work ‘Mixing It Up: Intergenerational Interviews’, which is a series of 6 films of dialogues between an older artist and a younger artist.