Big Snake Ziggzagging in Me: Act 4: Erinyes, Furies, Bats

About

The story is weaved around the concept of ‘Erinyes’ - the mythical creatures that take vengeance on men’s destructive and disrespectful actions - and references current scientific evidence linking deforestation with the spread of deadly pandemics.

The performance is designed, directed and performed by Katerina Barampouti.

Book a place here (Secret perk) by donating a small amount at the Big Snake Crowdfunding campaign: https://cutt.ly/ObbjbZu

Artist’s statement:

Leafs joining leafs to a moving net, sheltering life’s joyous play,
spreading fresh breaths to our morning awakenings,
curing the soil and its inhabitants.
Roots forming sacred alliances
to strengthen the grounds where we walk and gather.
Richness of flavours and sounds, abundant fortune.
Oh, that was just a dream….
Now bare dust, the soil is dead. I awake into a grieving desert. Flames, excavators, trucks with harsh wheels, flattened plains, stripped out of enchantment. Non-existent diversity. Homogenisation of rubbish. Ugliness. Disease.
Is this our human contribution to life? Is this our glorious aesthetics of misery? Is there a way out?

References:
1. Bats, Coronavirus and Deforestation: Toward the Emergence of Novel Infectious Diseases? / US National Library of Medicine: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5904276/ ‘

2. Over the past two decades, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that deforestation, by triggering a complex cascade of events, creates the conditions for a range of deadly pathogens—such as Nipah and Lassa viruses, and the parasites that cause malaria and Lyme disease—to spread to people.’ By Katarina Zimmer, National Geographic https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/deforestation-leading-to-more-infectious-diseases-in-humans