WALLMAPU EX SITU

Imagine that the following stakeholders are talking to each other at a conference: the Pan-American Highway; the blackberry bush, introduced by European settlers to demarcate borders and now a neophyte-turned nuisance; its successor, barbed wire, invented in the American West to enclose land declared as private property; and the Litre, a native tree that in Mapuche tradition is said to stand sentinel, thanks to its ability to induce a severe rash in intruders… Trop cher to share

For «Wallmapu ex situ» the performance collective Trop cher to share has teamed up with experts on the region and history of Wallmapu (see below) to create a series of digital conferences. In the virtual realm, people are speculating about how human and non-human residents and stakeholders from this area are represented and how they could enter into dialogue with one another. For the live stream of the conferences, the collective organised a series of events in parallel that took place in Bern and Zurich in 2020. The audience attended the live presentation of the online conferences where two simultaneous interpreters translated from Spanish to German. The last conference January 2021 was held exclusively online.

Trop cher to share works as transdisciplinary artist collective with a continually changing membership between Bern and Zurich. Artist, choreographer and performer Nina Willimann and video artist and performer Aldir Polymeris currently form the nucleus of the group. Their work hovers at the intersection between dance, performance, installation and intervention. Since 2011, they have created four evening shows and numerous works at specific locations, often produced in partnership with other artists, experts and communities. Projects created by Trop cher to share have been shown in theatres, art spaces, museums, festivals and public spaces in Switzerland, Germany, France, Chile and the Ivory Coast.

Wallmapu,
the original territory of the indigenous Mapuche people in the south of Chile, now known as Araucanía, is, as seen from here, a peripheral region on the other side of the globe. For over four hundred years, however, its landscape has been shaped by global, and in particular Western, interests. Switzerland, too, has left its mark and is still historically and financially connected with the region. Between 1883 and 1890, thousands of Swiss people migrated to South America, driven by poverty and lack of prospects. Today, besides its agriculture, Wallmapu is shaped by monocultures of transnational forestry corporations which predominantly produce building material and cellulose (the raw material used for paper and packaging material) and export it all over the world.

Artistic direction & coordination: Aldir Polymeris & Nina Willimann  Core team: Jose Cáceres Mardones, Mara Meier, Paula Baeza Pailamilla Dramaturgical supervision: Johanna Hilari Representatives: Carla Llamunao & Katherina Palma Millanao / Colectivo Chilliweke, Jose Cáceres Mardones, Marcelo Baeza, Alberto Dufey, Andrea Herrera Poblete, Daniela Catrileo, Joel Inzunza Leal, Rayén Daza Pilquinao, Kutral Vargas Huaiquimilla, Jens Benöhr, Cristian Vargas Paillahueque, Malte Seiwerth Production management: Elena Conradt/ProduktionsDOCK Camera: Alain Guillebeau, Nora Longatti Special thanks: Francisco Ríos Araya, David Stark, Liv Zumstein

Coproduction: Schlachthaus Theater Bern, Südpol Luzern Partner: la_cápsula Zürich Supported by: Kultur Stadt Bern, SWISSLOS/Kultur Kanton Bern, “COINCIDENCIA – Intercambios culturales Suiza-América del Sur” de la Fundación Suiza para la cultura Pro Helvetia, m2act – The funding and network project of the Migros Culture Percentage initiative that supports the performing arts

Image: Dia 1, Comunidad de conservación Namuncai © Aldir Polymeris