Artistic statement (Katja Heitmann)

A monument in motion 

How can human movement become eternal, while our bodies are transient? Since 2019 Katja Heitmann has been working on her ‘archive of human movement’: Motus Mori. A paradoxical form of historiography that does not rely on measurable data, but on the human body.

She has since worked with an ever-growing group of dancer-archivists and movement donors, collecting and displaying the movements of more than 2,000 people. In the coming years, she plans to create new works of art, based on this rich archive. But more importantly; she wants to explore how this archive can transcend generations and still be there in 60, 100, 300, maybe even 1,000 years from now.

This desire takes on further significance in these times of polarization, when people lack grip and are withdrawing into social bubbles. Interaction between people is becoming ever more digitized. As a result, contact becomes fragmented, social cohesion is getting scarce and we are increasingly alienated from our own bodies.

Conversely, Katja wants to create a unifying monument. A monument that shows vulnerability as well as the beauty of human beings and aims to stimulate empathy and connection.

Is it still possible to build a cathedral together in this fragmented society? Or are we stuck in the mold of today’s society, which emphasizes individualistic goals and security? Do we still dare to believe in something grand, something intangible, something that transcends generations and that we create for the future, without knowing what it might look like – more so – whether we will experience one at all. Can we, in these times of hyper-control, everlasting youth and ultimate manufacturability, think beyond our finite bodies? Beyond ourselves?

Often it is the most intangible things that give people grip… It is precisely this paradox that connects us, that makes us human. Exactly that is what we lack in this world.

We need rituals.

We will build in times of crisis. Together. Because we believe that a fair and inclusive society requires more than hyper-individualism, identity-thinking and polarization. We will use performing arts to create new rituals and work together on a cathedral that is built upon by different generations. Not a monument of stone, but a monument of movement: a living ritual that proceeds from the value of the human body and interdependence.

From the past.
Towards the present.
Into the future.

Katja Heitmann
Sander van der Schaaf
Stichting This is not a show