The starting point for Flows was… Hair.
Hair that had been “always” extremely long, braided, reaching halfway down my calves for years.
This element of my appearance — constantly commented on and evaluated by others — functioned
as a cultural symbol of traditional femininity. The social pressure to preserve it revealed deeply rooted
mechanisms for regulating women’s bodies and their representations. I decided to transform the act of
cutting my hair into a symbolic gesture of resistance against these expectations, as well as
a commentary on environmental destruction. On stage, at the end of a movement improvisation,
I pull out scissors to cut off my braids, and then shave my head. In doing so, I “reclaim” autonomy
over my own body. The tension projected onto me by others became deeply personal in the aftermath:
some time after the action my grandmother told me that I should “change my name,”
because — in her view — I had brought shame upon our (traditional, conservative) family.
The action highlighted the absurdity of a situation in which people’s emotions engage
more intensely with the “fate” of hair that will grow back than with the condition of rivers
whose “braids” remain permanently damaged.
more intensely with the “fate” of hair that will grow back than with the condition of rivers
whose “braids” remain permanently damaged.
In the riverine community, the tangled, rippling structures of a current are referred to as braids.
I juxtapose these two forms of flow: the ones symbolically and socially inscribed onto my body,
and the ones rivers — especially the Oder — are losing as a result of ecological catastrophe.
What guided me here was the framework of hydrofeminist thought, which understands
the relations between human bodies and aquatic environments as interdependent and subject
to similar forms of violence, exploitation, and control. In Flows, the body becomes a medium
that reveals the analogy between cultural pressure imposed on women’s bodies and
the oppression of rivers — both are regulated, evaluated, and instrumentalized.
I juxtapose these two forms of flow: the ones symbolically and socially inscribed onto my body,
and the ones rivers — especially the Oder — are losing as a result of ecological catastrophe.
What guided me here was the framework of hydrofeminist thought, which understands
the relations between human bodies and aquatic environments as interdependent and subject
to similar forms of violence, exploitation, and control. In Flows, the body becomes a medium
that reveals the analogy between cultural pressure imposed on women’s bodies and
the oppression of rivers — both are regulated, evaluated, and instrumentalized.
The performance concludes by opening the action toward a communal dimension:
the cut hair was donated for a wig for someone in need, and one of the festival organizers
became involved in producing educational materials on rivers. Flows thus became a tool
for redirecting attention toward what is shared and fundamental — toward the flows of water,
emotion, and cultural narratives that shape our relations with the world.
the cut hair was donated for a wig for someone in need, and one of the festival organizers
became involved in producing educational materials on rivers. Flows thus became a tool
for redirecting attention toward what is shared and fundamental — toward the flows of water,
emotion, and cultural narratives that shape our relations with the world.
The action was carried out on 24 September 2023, on World Rivers Day.
The performance took place on the stage of the Staromiejskie Youth Culture Centre in Kraków,
during the anniversary 10th edition of the Alchemia Teatru Nationwide Festival.
The performance took place on the stage of the Staromiejskie Youth Culture Centre in Kraków,
during the anniversary 10th edition of the Alchemia Teatru Nationwide Festival.