Presentation of the show Origami

As a prelude to the Cairns show, discover a presentation of the Origami project

> More info [in French]

Authors and performers Solenn Mounès and Pamela Pantoja (corde lisse and hair suspension) 
Composition and musical performance Marion Curie
Light design Alice Leclerc
Costumes Raphael Lobello
Outside perspective Derya Aydin

Production Collectif Merken
Coproductions Archaos, national circus center in Marseille and the Association ZimZam in La Tour d’Aigues
Artistic residencies Centre Social Grand Saint Antoine, Marseille // Association Art'Euro, Aubagne // Loly Circus, Oraison // Théâtre Gilgamesh Belleville, Avignon // Cheval Magique equestrian theater school, Belmont // Cité des Arts de la Rue, Marseille // Espace Culturel Jean Blanc, La Ravoire
Support Rouvrir le Monde, DRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur // Fond de dotation de la Friche de la Belle de Mai // La Compagnie Fruitière. Other partnerships in progress.

The Merkén Collective was born in Marseille in 2019 and is composed mainly of women from various backgrounds. It facilitates the production and distribution of shows and supports the development of educational and socio-cultural initiatives.

As a common thread in all its activities, the collective works on the question of the power to act and uses the circus as a means to explore the capacities for defense and response to different forms of oppression. The Merkén Collective’s creations bring to light stories that have been rendered invisible. Stories where the intimate and the political become entangled, stories that draw upon the plurality of interpretations that can participate in the deconstruction of the dominant narratives.

The Merkén Collective was initially structured around the creations of Pamela Pantoja, a Chilean circus artist living in France since 2009. Now, it is gradually weaving links between different artists, either through shows in which they collaborate, or through other forms of exchange in the educational, socio-cultural, and performance fields (in the sense of a spectacular form created for a given context and which frees itself from the classic codes of a show because of its duration, the place given to the public, its cohabitation with other offerings...)

Merkén or merquén (from the Mapuche word “medkeñ" or “merkeñ") is a condiment made from smoked chili pepper (or ají), often mixed with other ingredients when it is in ground form. It is a traditional component of Mapuche cuisine in Chile and other Andean regions.

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