Zoom, 19.10.2022
Lecture
INTERIOR ECOLOGIES LECTURE: MIRJAM SÖGNER

Mirjam Sögner: Lithic intimacy and vanishing spaces

Two dance works – WHAT DOES THE SPACE KNOW (by Farah Saleh and myself) and SPEAKING VOLUMES, a trio of mine from 2019, will be put in dialogue with each other in order to extract different modes of being with non-human matter, of relating to deep time and remembered events, of co-creating from the place of our inherent enmeshment with all sorts of different agents.
WHAT DOES THE SPACE KNOW is a spatial exploration wondering what remains when physical spaces disappear and if memories, interactions and collective activities can become places to refer to instead.
SPEAKING VOLUMES was born from the desire to co-create with non-living materials – especially minerals and foam and to make their vibrant presence and the reciprocity of every (touch) encounter with them perceivable in a theatre setting.
These two works will be our starting point to re-imagine ways of where to locate ourselves within complex systems where hierarchies between human and non-human agents are shifting.

Mirjam Sögner works as a choreographer and coach between Berlin and Vienna.
She studied contemporary dance, artistic research and choreography at MUK Vienna and ArtEZ Arnhem in the Netherlands. Training in Design Thinking, systemic organizational development and coaching followed.
Her pieces tour internationally and have been presented at venues such as Frascati Amsterdam, Akademie der Künste Berlin, Dancehouse Melbourne, Circuit-Est Montreal, Goethe Institut Ramallah, Austrian Cultural Center Istanbul, Brut Vienna, Dansens Hus Oslo, Rote Fabrik Zurich, Sophiensäle Berlin.
Her first solo work LARA was selected by Aerowaves touring network as one of the most promising new dance performances in Europe in 2016.
Mirjam has received numerous grants, including the DanceWEB grant, the START Stipendium from the Austrian Federal Chancellery and a research grant from the Goethe-Institute Montreal.
She teaches regularly at the BA Dance program ArtEZ Arnhem as well as at the Freie Universität Berlin.

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