THE DJERASSI / SACATAR ARTIST EXCHANGE

In 2019, we established an exchange of artists with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, in Woodside, California. To meet Djerassi’s goal to expand international engagement, we nominate former Sacatar Fellows from Latin America. In exchange, we host former Djerassi Fellows from anywhere in the world. Like so much else, Covid shut down this exchange program. In 2021, Sacatar Fellow Rodrigo Bueno participated in a “virtual” residency at Djerassi. We re-initiated the physical exchange of artists in 2022, when we hosted the identical twin choreographers from Taiwan, Hsiao-Wei Hsieh and Hsiao-Ting Hsieh. The project began with Yemanjá (ed: the orixá of the sea), but my research deepened into further aspects of the religions brought to Brazil from West Africa. The history, the landscape, the language, the action & character of people, the music, the color, and the temperature are so fresh and unfamiliar to me. After two months, I feel I am still an observer, experiencing the differences. I need more time to digest everything!

Hsiao-Ting Hsieh

(Dance / Taiwan)

In partnership with the Djerassi Resident Artists Program

Yemanjá was my project. But after one week here, I realized that I needed to learn more about the local history and religions. I borrowed books and DVDs and went to the museums. The music, carnival, costume, color, and the body language all interact with each other. And I feel so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn the dances of Yemanjá. This is the first step for me to connect to the spirit of Yemanjá. Internalized bodily movement provide more information than what we just see. Only after I learned the dance did I realize something from my body which is impossible to absorb from books. Nelson Maca’s performance also affected my work. We don’t have this kind of music / poetry combination in Taiwan. It was a unique and special experience for me. It was very powerful even though I didn’t understand the language.

(Dance / Taiwan)

Being part of the Djerassi ‘virtual’ residency was very unusual and pleasurable. With the global pandemic, our meetings became via collective calls, which at first seemed impersonal, but became an intense dive into the intimacy of the work in my home/studio. Walking with the camera through the atmosphere of the studio was engaging and captivated all participants. The physical absence reinforced the importance of soil identity. It reinforced the narrative of my research, which is based on interaction with the whole, on the joy of building a receptive studio over the years, a refuge where many resources emerge in abundance, ideal for the need for social isolation and contemplative momentum. The reflective conversations with the group reinforced the need to preserve energy from the inside out. We talked a lot about the importance of collective life. I felt the immense complicity of the participants in making me more comfortable, in constant offers of materials and supplies, but mainly the generosity of moral strength to face the devastation of hope during the dark political moment we were going through in Brazil. Another interesting point was my curiosity to know about the ancestry of the territory of the Djerassi residence, which until then, seems not to have been the subject of study and mirrored the growing need to honor the identity root of each participant. I dream of visiting and enjoying the Djerassi structure in person one day.