Claire Cunningham. Give Me A Reason To Live

About

Through tests of both body and faith, „Give Me A Reason To Live draws upon imagery of disabled people in Bosch’s apocalyptic paintings to question our present perspectives on “otherness” and “difference”.  Powerfully physical, visually striking, and set to a mesmerising score by sound artist Zoë Irvine, Cunningham invites us to consider our own empathy, sympathy, or indifference in a work of both generosity and brutal immediacy.  She is convinced that in a climate of fear, a society turns against the (perceived) weakest within it – as was already evident in Bosch’s era - and that this behaviour is not only manifest again, but cyclical. As a choreographer and performer, Claire Cunningham is also always an activist: the Scottish artist dedicates her solo to the victims of the Nazis’ euthanasia programs, as well as those who are currently bearing the brunt of the welfare cuts and other discriminatory effects of the British social reforms.