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Holland Festival: PEARLS

Joshua Serafin (PH)
Tue 11 Jun ’24 and Wed 12 Jun ’24
Back to the spiritual roots of Philippine society in an enchanting fusion of dance, singing and theatre.
Tue 11 Jun ’24
and
Wed 12 Jun ’24

In this enchanting fusion of dance, singing and theatre, the third part of the Cosmological Gangbang trilogy, multidisciplinary artist Joshua Serafin goes back to the spiritual roots of Philippine society from before it was touched by colonial ideas about gender. 

In the ‘Pearl of the East’, before the arrival of the staunchly Catholic Spanish in the 16th century, identity was not understood in terms of rigidly defined binaries, but was rather seen as fluid and rooting in the divine. High priestesses embodied this gender diversity and passed it on to the next generations. Serafin and their co-performers in the Philippines have rewritten history and conceived of a future in which bodies are divine once more, away from conventional gender norms.

By the same token, PEARLS aims to be not just theatre, but a healing ritual. The three performers (Serafin on stage and the others via a live connection) will share the pain they experience as queer and trans persons with brown bodies. They are able to tun their stories of trauma into scenes of unparalleled beauty, like oysters do with strange and abrasive particles, adding layers until it makes a beautiful pearl.

  • Language: English, Filipino / surtitles: English, Dutch
Part of

About the maker

Joshua Serafin (1995) was born in the Philippines and is currently based in Brussels. As a multi-disciplinary artist, they combine dance, performance, visual arts, film and choreography. Serafin will be an artist-in-residence at VIERNULVIER in Gent the coming years.

Serafin’s work deals with questions about identity, transmigration, queer politics and representation, different states of being and ways of inhabiting the body. They aim to explore Philippine identity in relation to global ideologies and create new forms of ritual and embodiment. They have collaborated with various performers and visual artists in Asia and Europe, including Arco Renz, Eisa Jocson, Adrian Wong, Choy Ka Fai and Korakrit Arunanondchai.

Serafin’s work has been met with international acclaim. It was featured at festivals and venues such as Deltebre Dansa (Spain), Queer Zagreb (Croatia), Centre National de la Danse Paris, Wing Platform Hong Kong, Bouge B Festival (deSingel), Meteor Festival (Bergen, Norway), Taipei Performing Art Center, Theater Rotterdam, Dampfzentrale Tanz (Bern), Esplanade (Singapore). Their work was also exhibited in museums in Hong Kong – Tai Kwun Contemporary – and Berlin – Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

In 2023 Joshua took part in Immerse, the annual Holland Festival programme for artists from the Netherlands and abroad who are at the start of an international career.

concept Joshua Serafin performance Joshua Serafin, Lukresia Quismundo, Bunny Cadag sound Pablo Lilienfeld scenography RV light design Ryoya Fudetani costumes Katrien Baetslé video Federico Vladimir Strate Pezdirc artistic assistance Rasa Alksnyte research Jaya Jacobo outside eye Arco Renz coproduction VIERNULVIER, BIT Teatergarasjen, HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlijn), Beursschouwburg, STUK, WpZimmer & C-TAKT, Theater Rotterdam with support by Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Vlaamse Gemeenschapscommissie

Holland Festival 2024