Cities that no longer exist explore the art of memory, or ars memoriae, in which memories are particularly strongly associated with physical locations, rooms and architecture. The starting point for this piece was the city as a concrete geographical location, as an anchor for memory. What happens with our memories, what happens to those who are remembering when these physical places are destroyed?
The actions of the performers on stage refer to the ancient techniques of ars memoriae, whereby in order to recall the thing to be remembered, we first have to find and organize our impressions. At the heart of this mnemonic technique is spatial orientation. How do we use rooms and places to remember?
Cities that no longer exist explores architectonic places as narrative instruments of our history - in the rewriting of history, for overcoming the wounds of the past, and for understanding contemporary events (personal and global) as part of a constant cycle that we experience as the passing of time.
In remembering cities… accounts of visual witnesses of the February 1945 bombings in Dresden intercalate with memories of the performers and their families of similar experiences of the NATO bombing reflecting on the ripples of history and political waves repeating.
The piece also examines the relationships of architecture and memory as a physical experience.
Constanza Macras
