Concept, direction and performance Maruska Ronchi
Videography Baesia Jeong
Music Ermanito, Giordano Costi, Maruska Ronchi
Costume Valentina Battarola
Duration 4’15”
OCEANUS HAFSJÓR International Art Residence and Exhibition Eyrarbakki Iceland June 2022, Eyrabakki
Vespero is the name given to Venus planet when it appears in the evening time. In common use it means the evening, the sunset time.
A solitary woman waits inside the house, constantly playing with a deck of cards, composing infinite constellations of possibilities; as the dispositions of the cards could change her destiny and instantly transfer her from her cold dark room to the lands of perennial summer. She is waiting and waiting. But one day at the vesper time…
Source of inspiration
Maruska Ronchi created this performance during the Artistic Residency Hafjor-Oceanus in Eyrarbakki. She got inspiration meeting, observing and talking with the locals in Eyrarbakki, a small icelandic village of 500 people.
The visit to the Árnessýsla Heritage Museum(Húsið á Eyrarbakka – Byggðasafn Árnesinga) was relevant for her, showing her how much important is for these people the memories of past generations. She was touched by the passion and strong respect of the inhabitants of Eyrarbakki for the history and their ancestors, and the importance given to human activities of the past.
Shooted inside the museum, the cradle of the past, space of memories.A bridge between the past and the present, between reality and fantasy, between visible and invisible, this work use images, symbols and archetype to convey sensations, emotions and reveal hidden meanings.
Other sours of inspirations “The lady of the house of love” by Angela Carter: tales about women archetypes, love and eros.
With her dance she create a space and a time without space and time, between reality and dream.
A woman in the house-museum, as a timeless presence, was always there, like a gost, like a spirit, doing the same action for bilions years, paying homage to her ancestors,freeing herself and her ancestors from the ancient chains, passing from generation to generation.