two strangers
standing
centred on the pavement
holding hands
in silence, for a while
In March 2020, katharinajej is invited to a residency at New Zero Art Space in Yangon, Myanmar. katharinajej is white and a stranger in the city. In the city center, she invites people she does not know to touch her hands. In this physical contact, katharinajej lingers in silence with her counterpart. Together they become a living sculpture in the hustle and bustle of city life, a sign of familiarity between strangers. The encounters take place in front of passers-by. A sign next to them provides background information.
The performance "becoming familiar with each other in Yangon" is a further development of the performance "warming one another", which was realized in Cologne, Germany in 2019.
Feedback of participants
It was a wonderful experience which I was initially very hesitant to try especially to be in so close contact with a stranger. However, after a while holding your hands, I felt that all human beings are created just the same, we should have less fear, not to impose prejudices and be more open to each other (despite with a stranger). Holding hands are simple to do as it no longer depends on language, race, background, level of education etc. After that, I feel we can connect to each other more easily as by just holding hand once, we are not stranger anymore. Lim
At first I was reluctant but at the end of 3minutes I feel like we were friends for sometime. Not just strangers meetings for the first time. David
Pictures
Hein Htet Aung
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