Die mitochondriale Eva. Mutterschaft und Ent-Mutterschaft

In the organizer's words:

"Mitochondrial Eve" is the name given by researchers in the Global North to the most recent common female ancestor of all humans living today. She is estimated to have lived between 150,000 and 200,000 years ago, probably in Ethiopia. Through her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed on exclusively from mother to child, she is genetically linked to the entire human race today.

In the Humboldt Forum, surrounded by the ancestral gallery of the electors and the recently AI-generated electresses on the third floor, Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen, who was born in the Philippines and lives in Denmark, unfolds her performance about motherhood, freedom of choice and the physical and emotional confrontation with babies and children. In a white, sculptural costume - inspired by Kai Nielsen's sculpture "Mother of Water" and overgrown with baby figures - accompanied by Vojta Drnek's accordion as well as text and interactive moments, she shows how children claim, demand and shape the mother's body - and how ambivalence, exhaustion, closeness and self-determination are interwoven in it.

The performance invites the audience to experience the intimacy and power of care: from giving one's own body to motherhood in the animal world and shared rituals to moments in which "not being a mother" is also given space. The private, physical experience meets the historical view of the simultaneously exhibited sculptures of women and men from the ruling families of the former Berlin Palace - a reflection on closeness, responsibility, freedom of choice and the cycle of life.

Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen says in her performance:

"Sometimes I am nothing - sometimes I am everything
A bouncing ball - a solid wall
Invisible - responsible
A Swiss army knife - without a sex life
A scapegoat - a lifeboat
An organizer - a geisha
Sometimes I am nothing - sometimes I am everything."

A sensual, thought-provoking work that makes motherhood tangible in all its facets - between physical presence, emotional intensity and the dialog with history and the public.

PARTICIPANTS

Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen

Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (born 1970 in Manila) is a Danish-Filipino, internationally recognized performance artist who has realized exhibitions and performances internationally. Her practice is based on performance art, which she also translates into various materials and media such as video, photography, sculpture and installations.

She has worked at the KIASMA Art Museum,
Helsinki; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Tate Modern, London; Performa (performance festival), New York; Venice Biennale; Thessaloniki Biennale; Busan Biennale; The Drawing Room Manila; Röda Sten, Gothenburg; AROS Art Museum, Aarhus; National Gallery, Singapore; and in Copenhagen at SMK/National Gallery Denmark, Nikolaj Kunsthal and Copenhagen Contemporary.

Cuenca's works involve the body, scripted texts, songs, composed music and complex visual elements such as costumes that function as stage sets. She collects, adapts and universalizes her narratives with both a critical and humorous approach to themes such as identity, culture, religion, gender and social relations.

Vojta Drnek

Vojta Drnek is a Czech jazz accordionist who is constantly expanding the expressive possibilities of his instrument. Known for his versatility and harmonic sensitivity, he leads the acclaimed chamber jazz trio Treetop and brings the unexplored sonic spaces of the accordion to contemporary music. He has performed at major festivals such as Jazzfest Berlin and JazzFest Brno as well as prestigious venues such as Jazz Dock, Opus Jazz Club and Donau115.

Drnek has been playing the accordion since the age of six and holds a master's degree from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts, supplemented by studies at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz. He has worked with musicians such as John Hollenbeck, Phil Donkin, Aidin Esen and many others. He is also co-founder of Ma Records, works in the marketing team of the Jazz Goes to Town festival and as musical editor and assistant at Kurt Rosenwinkel's label Heartcore Records.

- Price: free of charge

- Age: from 6 years

- Language: English

- Location: Foyer, staircase hall, 3rd floor

- belongs to: Destiny or choice?