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Watch a performance piece by Congolese dance artist Faustin Linyekula live from Tate
Art | 23 March 2020
Text Finn Blythe

Congolese choreographer and dance artist Faustin Linyekula was scheduled to perform his new work Our Bodies, Our Archives at Tate’s Tanks space this month. Along with other performances by Okwui Okpokwasili and Tanya Lukin Linklater, the work was programmed for this year’s Tate Live Exhibition, showcasing the most exciting performance artists from around the world.

The virus may have robbed them of the opportunity to perform together, but after Linyekula and a number of his collaborators made it to London, they were determined not to have made the trip in vain. In lieu of a physical audience, Linkeyula worked with Tate to stage a one-off, site-specific work performed to camera in the empty Tanks. That performance is now available to watch online for free at tate.org.uk, and combines elements of his most famous works from the past 15 years.

The performance is autobiographical, and combined with his fellow companions of actors, dancers and musicians, Linkeyula reactivates personal and collective memories. Other of Tate’s online content includes artist interviews with the likes of David Hockney and Billie Zanegwa as well as podcasts that introduce various artistic movements and themes in art history.


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