Will Lopes, I Will. Foreign portrait
Performance, mutimedia Exhibition, movie

I Will. Foreign portrait " is a poetic and political performance about immigration

This 3-formats project, constructed of performance, installation and film is a reflection on immigration and on the cultural, social and political concept of belonging and acceptance. Based on the poetic testimony of an immigrant artist who arrived in Austria from Brazil, the project starts from a personal context to try to reach an archetypical level of conflict. Wouldn't the migratory, life-transforming movement be common to every human being? ...from the dance of life in eternal evolution in time and space? 

Originally the project started as a film but unfolded into different formats. The film's lead actor welcomes the audience at the front door, introduces the theme, and invites them on a journey. The invitation is a reflection on the human migratory movement from an anthropological poetic panorama, passing through contemporary political and social issues, as well as the personal diaries of an immigrant artist who has just arrived in Europe.

“To be an immigrant”. The romantic dream about a better life in a new homeland and the reality established by cultural, social and political standards. The deconstruction of preestablished ideal images. Cultural shocks. Imposition of rules, norms and laws. The conflict between hopes and the aridity of daily urban life. Assimilation, Transformation and Integration processes. Integration? To be and not to be, to belong and not to belong. These are some of the questions.

WILL LOPES - Performer and Director - www.willopes.com

Brazilian Butoh dancer, actor, performer and director with 24 years of experience in these fields. Bachelor in Theater at the University of Brasilia in 2003, studied theater, dance, dance-theater, dramatic body mime, Butoh, circus, martial arts, and vertical dance. Physical trainer of performers specialized in the Brazilian technique called Bambu. Master’s degree in Communication and Semiotics at the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 2016. Since July 2018, he has been based in Vienna developing courses, workshops and performances. Internationally Will Lopes has been developing projects and performing in different countries such as Norway, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Brasil and Canada.

A project by:

Vienna-based Brazilian Butoh Dancer Will Lopes

Bosnian photographer Dino Rekanovic

Italian film director Ilaria Vergani Bassi

in collaboration with Vienna's Contemporary Art Association Ditiramb

Organizers in Warsaw: Butohpolis. International Butoh Art Festival

Partner: Austrian Cultural Forum Warsaw

13.04.2023 (Thu.), 19:00 hrs 

Austrian Cultural Forum Warsaw,

Próżna 7/9 Street

Free entrance