Arno Schuitemaker (NL): 30 appearances out of darkness

Regardless of what we associate with it, darkness can be disorienting, and even threatening: the unknown, the obscure, the void. But there is not always an escape from it. What if darkness can be turned into potential through a change of perspective? “The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be,” Virginia Woolf once wrote.

With 30 appearances out of darkness, Arno Schuitemaker creates an experience where a new dimension opens from the dark. Barely lit images emerge in a pitch-black space, sometimes on the threshold of perception. Assumptions we make of what we see are being challenged, while a group of performers moves across the stage. Not everyone is visible at the same time, but their presence is always felt. This world has its own kind of gravity and absorbs each and every one, gradually transforming into a place of protection, hope, and conquest.

Arno Schuitemaker: “Maybe it is proof that I am getting older, but I feel that I am less and less resisting the vulnerability of life. When I was reading Derek Jarman’s book Chroma some of his words strongly resonated with me: ‘Is black hopeless? Doesn’t every dark thundercloud have a silver lining? In black lies the possibility of hope.’ It led me to reflect on the significance of this paradox, and how it can benefit and shape us. Maybe we can find enlightenment by disappearing in darkness if only to be able to come out on the other side.”