OWARI – the art of coping

 

OWARI – the art of coping is a project by composer/theatre maker Dyane Donck. It is a

musical experience route between an exhibition and a performance. OWARI consists of

nine installations/scenes that are scattered throughout the church, where visitors can

wander freely wearing headphones.

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The Japanese word owari means ‘end’. OWARI explores the boundary between loss and

resilience and examines how we endure when the world falters.

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Every visitor experiences OWARI in their own individual way: the order, pace, and duration

of the scenes are determined by the visitor's personally chosen route. The specially

developed headphone system recognizes the wearer's position and precisely adjusts the

music, text, and sound to what is happening at that moment – a film clip, a movement of

light, a sculptural object. In this way, image, environment, and sound remain connected,

and the work unfolds in a continuous interplay of space, sound, and time.

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OWARI was developed in collaboration with several other artists: visual artist Iris

Bouwmeester, filmmaker Auke Hamers, animator Jos Meijers, mezzo-soprano Els

Mondelaers, choreographer/performer Michael Jahoda, soprano Claron McFadden,

author Gaea Schoeters, creative technologist Hans Timmermans, and set designer

Simon Haen.

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The Stevenskerk Nijmegen is a partner for this project and it is the premiere location.

Over the next four years OWARI will inhabit five other major churches (in Arnhem, Zwolle,

Groningen, Leiden, and Breda), where it will be on display and experienced each occasion

for a month at a time. At each new location one scene disappears, to be replaced by a

new site-specific installation. Thus, OWARI remains a constantly evolving work of art.