Erinnern

the then + the now = now time

Elaine Mitchener presents a solo vocal movement performance about memory and Afro-Caribbean-European identity. Her work explores a historical consciousness in which the past is not understood and glorified as something closed and complete: a form of remembering that emphasises the past’s relentless presence. In contrast to a memory whose thrust is mediating, conciliatory and distancing, Mitchener remains true to suffering in the past by refusing reconciliation with past wrongs.

the then + the now = now time is an artistic quest to politicize the past, undoing and unsettling time and space using music and movement. Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Mitchener’s artistic work as a vocalist, movement artist and composer is permeated by the awareness of past and present forms of discrimination, post-colonial wounds and their effects on humanity. “We will inhabit a concept of remembering as an act of responsibility. An act that in turn is ultimately liberating and healing.” Elaine Mitchener