With Lumen preparations in full swing, we managed to catch our Artistic Director Kevin Finnan before he jets off to Timișoara on Monday for an exciting insight into the inspirations, themes and goals behind our exciting new project, Lumen.
Check out his Artist Statement for Lumen below:
“I was asked to make a performance work with the people of Timișoara which drew from the city as its source material. I had never been to Timișoara before, and as an outsider, the challenge was to make a work about the city and its history. But the strength of being an outsider is the potential to reflect the city back to itself from the outside.
My first inspiration came from the bond I quickly found with the people I met, who had a real energy to make something happen. They were shining with spirit and purpose which really enthused me.
The defining element of the brief was that the performance was to take place on the Bega River at a site outside the city centre at a point where the Bega has been widened to allow boats to turn and pass. The site defines the work therefore whatever I would do would have to relate to this site.
Looking for inspiration, the first thing I did was to spend time looking around the city, gathering my impressions, learning about the history of the city and then talking to a wide range of people about their personal experiences there. Through this process I was building a compendium of images and impressions, and building a story in my mind. The first of which was that this show is based on water because the Bega river of Timișoara had been a gateway to the outside world through which people and life had flowed like the breathing of a giant.
The show follows the passing of time and speculates on how this has affected the people of the city. Drawing extensively on my interviews with many generous people who gave me their thoughts and feelings about some of the ways of living, the political systems, social structures and the changes in society. Time has passed but maybe now was the time to present the Bega River and the breathing of that giant once again.
The form I am working in is large-scale outdoor performance. I am using this form to create a series of images that comprise a visual poem that I hope will show the people of Timișoara as I have found them to be: the life and light of the city.”
Take a look at a short excerpt of Kevin discussing Lumen in the video below.