The Sea In Its Thirst Is Trembling, Live performance, San Juan River, Matanzas, Cuba, 2019
The Sea In Its Thirst Is Trembling is a collaborative sound intervention conceived for Ríos Intermitentes (Intermittent Rivers) during the 13th Havana Biennial in Matanzas, Cuba. I worked closely with local musicians and artists over the period of a year to create a work that is situated between Cuba and the Horn of Africa. Musicians from the Ashé Olorun group performed for both versions of the work (live performance and video), while an interview with the legendary Matancero sculptor Agustin Drake Aldama complemented the strong cross-cultural undercurrent of the work.
The live performance took place along the San Juan River, under a bridge, which ultimately connected musical traditions, histories, and cultures. The lead drummer, Hiran Polledo Diaz, who was seated along the wall of the riverbank, played with and in response to the drummers Osmays Rodriguez Diaz and Reinaldo Adazabal and the singer Mayline Carballo Bidez, who performed on a small fishing boat that circled the river and out into the bay of Matanzas. The title of the work The Sea In Its Thirst Is Trembling, references Édouard Glissant’s concept of trembling thinking, and the importance of cultural multiplicity and exchange.
The Sea In Its Thirst Is Trembling
Single channel video, HD, 10:45 mins, 2019