“Memory Islands”
EN / FR
Chloe Bellemere (FR) and Inga Galinyte (LT) are a multidisciplinary artistic duo exploring the field of memory through their creative process Memory Islands – focusing on different layers of memories, the ones we consciously keep alive and the ones we store in our unconscious memory corners.
Memories are something we all carry with us. From the most joyful to the most traumatic, they all shape us, move us, and guide us through life, while influencing our thoughts and emotions, creating behavior patterns, and impacting our perceptions of the world, even if we no longer consciously recall them. Inspired by the abyssal creatures, mythological figures, personal and collective memories as well as the natural environment, such as oceanic landscapes, islands, and volcanos, the artists raise the question: How deep can we go by remembering?
By experiencing different art mediums, including installation, performance, text, and video art, Memory Islands has been activated at the Cité Internationale des Arts residency in Paris (2021), the Amaneï residency in Salina Island, Sicily (2023), the Watermill Center through the Artists-in-residence and the International Summer Program in New York (2023, 2024). The process of 'Memory Islands' is supported by Goethe-Institut, Lithuanian Council for Culture, Byrd Hoffman Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding (TMU).
EN / FR
Memory Islands — A Laboratory: 100 Years of Experimentation, 2024
Performance presented at Watermill Center for ‘A Laboratory: 100 Years of Experimentation’’
© Maria Baranova
© Lindsay Morris
© Maria Baranova
“The murmur of the shells is nothing but the echo of clashing memories, of lives colliding in the abyss of time.”1
On a pile of empty shells with bony hues, two performers appear focused in their inner worlds. At times in contact with each other, at times apart, they allow themselves to be submerged by memories awakened by the sounds of the shells their interactions provoke. The lines of their bodies transform into natural landscapes, abyssal creatures, and mythological monsters, while barely audible fragments of everyday scenes, both semi-erotic and nightmarish, emerge.
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What sleeps inside you – she whispers. Another storm – we witness. We shake in silence and breathe in circles. We spiral into the hemispheres. The abyssal memories emerge, listen to their shape. Re-shape. Re-play. Play. Pick up the shell, come closer. We have met before.
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performance (2h)
concept, performance . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
sound . Dario Felli
costumes . Flavia Ruggeri
1. Amin Maalouf “The Disoriented“ (2012)
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The Watermill Center’s annual summer benefit fused dance and artistic experimentation
Sofi Cisneros, Document Journal
EN / FR
Memory Islands — Foster Memorial Beach, 2024
Collective harvest activated at Foster Memorial Beach.
We arranged to meet them on the Memorial Foster Beach (Long Island) one morning in July 2024. Silently, standing with their feet immersed in the sea, we gradually asked them to recall a memory — something heavy, that still weighs on them — and that they wish to let go of.
Look . Breath . Dig in . Feel . Move . Search . Pick . Collect . Entrust it . Float away
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collective harvest
conception . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
participants . Adelina Larsson Mendoza, Alen Nsambu, Alex Bard, Amon Wendel, Dai Asano, Elena Meoni, Evelyn Dugan, Flavia Ruggeri, Mylan Hoezen, Robson Catalunha, Tez, Noémie Stevens, Truth Colon, et Sara Thaiz Bozano.
EN / FR
Memory Islands — In Process, 2023
Sound excerpt and photographs from the performance presented at Watermill Center for In Process.
© Jessica Dalene
how far can you remember?
deep breath . deep breath . deep breath . deep breath . deeper breath . something’s moving *clic* . deep breath. something’s moving *clic* slowly . stop. Silence.—.*clic*.—.*clic*. *clic* . something tiny’s *clic* moving . very little . slowly . shy thing . *clic* . moving . *clic*.—.*clic*.*clic* . have we met before? . *clic*. Pause . Silence.—.echograph. on. Silence . feverish sounds. drawing circules . lemniscate . bigger . lemniscate lawder . abyssal creatures . eyes open . dark light . I know you are there . Silence . Mike turn on . dry mouth. tap tap.—.tap tap . murmured. tap tap . one two one two.—. tap one just one . two one two . one two one two . something’s waking up. one two one two . one two want you . one two . one two . one . two . one . two . one . tyou . want . you . one two . want . tyou . one . two . want . to . want . to . want to . want . two . one . two . one . to . want . to-one . to-one . to-one . t-one . to . An . ne . en . toi . ne . An . toi . ne . en . toi
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performance (35 minutes)
concept, text, performance . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
EN / FR
Memory Islands — Flying Point Beach, 2023
Video-performance activated at Flying Point Beach during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Watermill Center in Long Island.
Beach walkers passing by were asked to share a memory — the first one that emerge — while thinking of Long Island. Those who agreed first sitted on a chair facing the wild ocean, before sharing it on a blue note, placing it in a jar, and disappearing away.
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video-performance (45 minutes)
concept, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
participants . Evening beach walkers
EN / FR
Memory Islands — Pollara, 2023
Activated at Pollara during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Amaneï on Salina island in Sicily, Italy.
In a dreamlike slow motion, two silhouettes converge upon a rock that appears as an island. Through their movements, they trace the hidden memories of the local inhabitants, while the temporality of everyday life around them flows by, made tangible by the rippling of the water and the passing of a swimmer.
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diptych video (20 minutes)
concept, performance, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
unintentional participant in the real . British swimmer
EN / FR
Memory Islands — Portella, 2023
Activated on Prehistoric Village of Portella during the artists-in-residence program 2023 at Amaneï.
The olive tree, with its millennia of existence, has the ability to regenerate after periods of devastation such as fires or droughts. This resilience and longevity endow it with the symbolism of immortality. Yannick Haenel writes in "Jan Karski" (2009): "The olive tree carries within it the eternity of days gone by. It bears witness to the earth's memory, to the passage of centuries as a slow transformation, preserving the scars of time in the softness of its leaves."
On the heights of the prehistoric village of Portalla, on the Sicilian island of Salina, an olive tree stands against the vast sky. In the background, two evanescent silhouettes sketch and blend local inhabitants’s memories and mythological figures that transcends human lives.
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video (10 minutes)
concept, performance, images . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte
EN / FR
Memory Islands — Cité, 2021
Performance installation activated at Cité internationale des arts for Ateliers ouverts.
© Hamid Rahiche
We are all haunted by our memories, and sometimes by others' memories. That's why objects are important. They carry pieces of people and time with them.
In the softly lit interior of a room in the residence, where the entrance is nearly obstructed by a wardrobe, two performers engage with objects from their personal lives. These items, meticulously chosen for their sensory or emotional significance, are arranged on a mound of overturned furniture. As they are moved and combined, they recreate still lifes within a collective landscape. Through the interplay of these objects, their movements, and the resulting compositions, the performers seek to evoke forgotten memories.
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performance installation (4 heures)
concept, performance installation . Chloe Bellemere & Inga Galinyte