Abstract
Stories of Unexpected Loss (SOUL) - Part 2 is a live performance with prerecorded video artworks, that creates a hybrid form of installation. The work is in collaboration with Abkhaz theatre director Madina Argun and developed by Asida Butba of SKLAD Cultural Space, Abkhazia. The performance of SOUL to a live Abkhaz audience was funded by an AHRC Impact Accelerator Award.
SOUL draws on narratives deeply embedded in contemporary Abkhaz society—stories that rarely emerge from the shadows of private life into the public sphere. The project began in 2022 as a collaboration exploring how theatre and visual art might merge to create a new form of hybrid language to better convey local narratives in Abkhazia. This project was funded by an Arts Humanities Research Council Network Grant. The collaboration has evolved through multiple iterations, appearing both as live performance and as multimedia installation. Original script was developed by local poet Anton Ochirov, who employed verbatim techniques from local conversations to shape the material from real-life testimonies. What emerges is a mix of surreal and theatrical forms, that connect to each other in fragmented scenes, communicating across the void between the actors and the prerecorded performances on screen. In a broader sense, these loosely interwoven narratives are a meditation on personal and collective loss, memory, and the fragile texture of social experience in a place enduring long post-conflict aftermath.
SOUL draws on narratives deeply embedded in contemporary Abkhaz society—stories that rarely emerge from the shadows of private life into the public sphere. The project began in 2022 as a collaboration exploring how theatre and visual art might merge to create a new form of hybrid language to better convey local narratives in Abkhazia. This project was funded by an Arts Humanities Research Council Network Grant. The collaboration has evolved through multiple iterations, appearing both as live performance and as multimedia installation. Original script was developed by local poet Anton Ochirov, who employed verbatim techniques from local conversations to shape the material from real-life testimonies. What emerges is a mix of surreal and theatrical forms, that connect to each other in fragmented scenes, communicating across the void between the actors and the prerecorded performances on screen. In a broader sense, these loosely interwoven narratives are a meditation on personal and collective loss, memory, and the fragile texture of social experience in a place enduring long post-conflict aftermath.
| Original language | Russian |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | UK and Abkhazia |
| Publisher | SKLAD Cultural Space, Abkhazia |
| Edition | Part 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jun 2025 |
Keywords
- post-conflict
- performance
- Video Art
- Collaboration