sharing a dream

In the Once neighborhood, one of the most dangerous parts of Buenos Aires, Argentina, katharinajej sets up her private bed on the sidewalk across from her home. In front of the bed is a sign that reads in Spanish: "Share a dream with me. Please enter without shoes". The word sueño has a double meaning in Spanish: both a dream of sleep and a wish.

People walk past me. I notice their hurried pace and fast rhythm. They don't seem to see me or the bed. Only a few look back and smile as they almost pass by. I feel protected and relaxed in the bed, but at the same time fragile and at the mercy of the public urban space. A man complains to me that his customers no longer have enough space to enter his shop. He calls his boss. We agree to move the bed half a meter. I lie back in bed. Just when I think that no one will dare to come to bed with me, a young woman suddenly takes off her shoes and slips under the covers with me. She lives a few doors down. She stays with me for a long time and tells me about her dream of becoming an editor and starting a home for animals. Some time later, Walter, a young man from the neighborhood with few teeth and a strong body odor, sits down by my bed. He tells me about his dream of robbing a bank. When I ask, he corrects himself: his real dream is to become a soccer player.

Pictures
Jenny Toro Salas

Support
The performance took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as part of the research for the PerformanceZuHauseFestival, sponsored by the state of NRW.