nora chipaumire returns to Tanz im August with her latest work, “#PUNK 100% POP *N!GGA”. Provocative, joyful, and challenging, this three-part live performance album is demanding for performers and audience alike.
Interview: David Pallant
How do you view the audience’s role in the piece?
Well they are the piece! They all make the mistake of thinking that we’re the piece while, unbeknownst to them, they’re playing their parts to the hilt, which I think is fantastic. They surround us, looking at each other, wondering if they can make some collective decision. Should they run away? Should they stay? Should they follow our instructions, or refuse? I see the audience as authors of the space, choreographing its politics through their solidarity, complicity, or point-blank refusal. The performance space is a constituency, and the audience must vote one way or the other!
Has there been a reaction from an audience where you thought: “Yes, this is what it’s all about!”?
All the time – for better or worse! Whether it’s hitting its mark and they’re in complete solidarity with the ideology, or if the opposite is true, it’s exactly as it should be. We don’t have to agree with each other, but we’re sharing the space, so we’re making reparations together. There’s no opportunity to take a comfortable distance. The action unfolds right there in front of you and you’re unavoidably a part of it. It’s living politics.