Misslightenment
let there be shadow
Misslightenment: work in progress.
“Misslightenment” is a work about the overshadowing of women’s stories and subsequently bodies, by the male gaze. During the research I look at these stories from a lance of a personal perspective and observe what they trigger on me, what kind of personal memories or how I respond and react to them; because, although they are individual, they reflect on societal conditions that extend from the past to the present.
Using the element of shadow and the present body, I investigate the different layers the stories imply in regards to what is visible or latent, in an attempt to give a different light to parts where the light has not reached upon.
Inspired by and dedicated to:
Medusa, the blamed victim
Hypatia, the hunted witch
Sisters Oversteegen and Hannie Schaft, those who broke the mother-housewife stereotype
Viktoria Marinova, the woman who made noise
Concept & choreography: Eleni Ploumi
Performance: Eleni Ploumi
Visuals: Eleni Ploumi
Technical support: Nikola Scheibe
Supported by: United Cowboys
Artistic advice: Maarten van der Put, Pauline Roelants
Dramaturgy: Danae Theodoridoum a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.
Misslightenment – its own story
Almost two years ago, I got the terrible news that the sister of an acquaintance of mine got murdered by her ex-partner. A femicide.
This triggered me to search about femicides in The Netherlands.
To my surprise, I discovered that the numbers are quite high. According to Atria, in 2020 there were 44 victims of femicide and in 2021, 38.
Femicide and domestic violence are actual problems in The Netherlands, however very nicely camouflaged behind the ‘progressive vitrine’ of this country.
As I saw that this matter has not much space in the public discourse, I had the urge to do something about it with the tools I have; to create a work that raises awareness around the matter.
Soon, I realized that in order to address a current situation, I needed to look into the past, to observe if and how we know and look at stories of mistreatment of women and how this has influenced today’s mentality.
For this first part of the research, I am taking inspiration from stories of the further and recent past. I look at them from a personal perspective, meaning also that I look at them from the perspective of the present - while the urge for emancipation rises constantly, in my mind and in the work.