Spectres of Morocco

About

German-French artist Adrian Schindler’s ‘Spectres of Morocco’ is a performance that aims at deconstructing and counteracting stereotypes about the Moroccan Other that still pervades post-colonial European society.

The text meanders between times, geographies and literary genres, including excerpts of archival documents, news, reminiscences of my research in northern Morocco and insights of actor Ali el Aziz’ professional experience in Spain. During the course of the lecture, the performers convoke a range of stereotypes about the Moroccan Other (the so-called “Moros”) that still pervade Spanish society, as well as historical figures (romantic writer Pedro de Alarcón and general Prim), an orientalist sculpture, an anonymous Spanish soldier on its way to the Rif War and a Moroccan teenager met at the gates of the Ceuta enclave.

The voices and viewpoints shift along with the performance, at times bringing into light uncomfortable positions, while the relation of the performers slowly evolves –their bodies and gazes avoiding or confronting each other, but ultimately also sharing complicity. Through different ways of talking about and embodying the past, the work approaches entangled contemporary questions such as racism, exoticism, migration and tourism, while exploring the performative qualities of distance and proximity.

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Performers: Ali El Aziz and Adrian Schindler. Scenography and costumes: Claire Chassot. Assistant dramaturg: Alba Sanmartí Masdeu.

Event produced by Looking Forward and Empathy & Risk. Team: Burçak Yakici, Carolina Lio, Katerina Matheson, Giulia Menegale.

Supported by Acción Cultural Española and Sheffield Hallam University.

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Adrian Schindler holds a MA from the postgraduate programme Art in Context at the Universität der Künste Berlin (2015), an MFA from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (2012) and studied performance at the Columbia College and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2011).

His practice deals with the link between historical events, cultural production and state ideology, with an emphasis on their effects on subjectivities. Through collaborations and a performative research methodology (reading groups, round tables, meetings) he develops forms structured by writing, be they performances, video installations or publications.

Adrian has exhibited in MACBA, Barcelona (2021), Green Parrot, Barcelona (2021), Cruce, Madrid (2021), El Born CCM, Barcelona (2019), La Grande Halle de La Villette, Paris (2018), La Capella, Barcelona (2017), Can Felipa, Barcelona (2017), Studiolo, Berlin (2015), Salon Mutlu, Berlin (2014), Analix Forever Gallery, Paris (2013), Le Centquatre, Paris (2013) among others.