Project Type: AUDIO

Is there love in Berlin? Partcipatory Lecture Performance

“When we love we can make our hearts speak.” #bellhooks

Based on bell hooks’ book All About Love, Is There Love in Berlin? is a participatory lecture performance that delves into the complexities of love and friendships in the city, particularly focusing on the immigrant population. Through this lecture, Camila invites the audience to reflect on love, humanity, and the universal need to be part of a community, exploring these themes through personal discussions.

After collecting love stories from local residents and historical narratives from the city, documented through audio recordings, photos, videos, and writings, the artist created a multimedia collage that forms the structure of the lecture performance. In total, it lasts 90 minutes, with a 20-minute pause. During the pause, the audience can also participate by sharing their own stories and thoughts, responding to a questionnaire inspired by the themes explored during the research process.

  1. Did you ever have a story of love in Berlin? If yes, did you suffer from the racism of your partner? Or had you ever been racist with your partner?
  2. Do you have friends in Berlin that you love?
  3. Is there love in Berlin?

The project began in 2017 as part of the B-Tour Festival, curated by Yael Sherril. The premiere was so well-attended that it led to an additional presentation at the festival. Later that year, the project was also invited to be featured at the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek as part of the “Aktion Offener Sonntag” program, curated by Sonntagsbureau.

Once again, the space was filled with an engaged audience.

Moments from the lecture-performance can be viewed here:

Berlin, 2017

A wonderful event, wholeheartedly thought and beautifully presented. You can feel the words coming out of Camila’s heart, and right into your own. Sehr zu empfehlen!!  M. Haten Hamdy

2017 B-Tour Festival, Berlin, Germany, curated by Yael Sherril.
2017 Amerika Gedenk-bibliothek, part of the program 'Aktion offener Sonntag`, curated by Sonntagsbureau.
At the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin, as part of Sonntagsbureau, 2017

Is There Love in Berlin? consistently drew large audiences. Here is the link to the Facebook event and the 2K people who attended:
https://www.facebook.com/events/152207042083792/

V

Audio Installation . 2014

A polyphony of  home-made female voice recordings. Seven women sing, exposing feelings, simplicity and beauty.

 

with Landa Anjos. Luna Martinelli . Alexandra Wiltshire. Bruna Nunes. Camilla Ribas. Fannie Faivre. Francisca Villela aka Panxi.

 

Berlin 2014 . Musterzimmer Gallery . Curated by Lola Lustosa

 

 

 

Do you wanna talk about it?

Live Performance
Do U Wanna Talk About It? – Live Performance It is an intimate and deeply personal performance. Set in a private room, one member of the audience enters alone, taking a seat directly across from the artist. In this secluded space, the spectator is invited to gaze into the profound depths of the artist’s past experiences.

This autobiographical performance confronts the difficult subject of childhood sexual abuse, with the artist courageously sharing her own history of trauma. The encounter is intensely private, designed for just one spectator at a time, and lasts for a brief but powerful four minutes.

Do U Wanna Talk About It? challenges the boundaries between performer and audience, creating a moment of profound connection and reflection on the impact of trauma.

vídeo em português
VENUES
Bärenzwinger Kommunalle Gallerie . Berlin . 2024
One Billion Rising  – Tanz Quartier . Vienna . Austria . 2016 (video)
Unruly Bodies – gender norms resistance . Sophia Conference – Brussels .  2015
Kunstahaus Rhenania – Cologn. Germany .  2015
100˚Grade Festival – Sophiensaelle and Hebbel am Uffer – Berlin. 2014
Month of Performance Berlin . PIC_Pieces in Chain. Altes Finanzamt 2013
Musterzimmer. Berlin. 2013
Camila Rhodi: Der Tagesspiegel
Do u wanna talk about it blog 100˚Berlin

Take me

As an autobiographical portrait, ‘Take Me’ delves into personal history, cultural influences, and loneliness. The table, along with the vivid colors of selected objects, focused lighting, mechanical voiceover, and deliberate movements, creates an aesthetic distance between the artist and the audience. The performance consists of both intentional and spontaneous writings, punctuated by silences and evocative, often poignant images of the body. 

For this live performance, a table and chair are set up. During the act, I blindfold myself and proceed to peel and cut a grapefruit with a sharpened knife. Through this, I reveal my deepest fears, many of which are tied to experiences of physical and psychological violence. As a performance artist, I often position my own body, voice, and thoughts in a vulnerable state, willingly exposing myself to others. While I acknowledge that this establishes a distinct relationship between the artist and the spectator, it also serves as a representation of the biography of the female body. This includes aspects such as economic control, cultural implications of the female form, its representation, sexualization, and objectification.

Imagem

Documentation of the performance at Sophiensaele for the 100˚Grad Festival, Berlin:

 

Take Me was performed in the following venues (selected):

 

Vienna Parallel 2019. Vienna . Austria 

Sommerloch 2015. Wuppertal . Germany

Entretempo Kitchen Gallery 2015 . Berlin . Germany

 Expat Markt   2014. English Theater in Berlin. Germany

100˚  Grad Festival 2013. Sophiensaele – Hebbel am Uffer. Berlin. Germany.

Month of Performance . 2013. Berlin. Germany .

Musterzimmer. 2013. Berlin.Germany.

HB Lab . 2012 Home Base Berlin . Berlin. Germany.

Since 2019, the artist has been performing ‘Take Me’ featuring this dress made in collaboration with artist Catherina Renaux Hering.

Ice

‘In 2011, performance artist Camila Rhodi had an accident while driving her beetle Volkswagen in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rhodi unexpectedly veered off the paved road to discover her breaks were malfunctioning. Despite her areligious background, Rhodi instinctively began to pray. This is the video documentation of Camilla Rhodi’s performance piece that recreates the near-death, automotive experience—only performed once in 2011 in Rio de Janeiro. The video shows Rhodi disrobing and slowly entering a bathtub filled with ice for the duration of 15 minutes and 47 seconds. Almost her entire body is submerged in the ice with the exception of her head, abdomen and feet—the exposed skin serves as a reminder to the viewer of her naked body’s subjection to the harsh temperatures of the ice. The extreme conditions of the tub are designed to emulate the feelings of peril and danger of the car, as well as a prolonged elapsing of time: in the ice cold bath every passing minute is perceived to be a passing hour. The second most noteworthy embellishment to the piece is the recording of traditional catholic prayers, recorded in Rhodi’s native tongue, Portuguese. Although Camila did not pray specifically to the traditional Catholic perception of God and the holy trinity, the piece draws sources from Catholics, the most dominant religion of Brazil. In addition to audible prayers, Rhodi positions candles at the head and foot of the tub, creating the sensation of being in the interior of a church, surrounded by votive candles.’

by Julia Jarrett

B.A. Columbia University ’15

The video installation was exhibited:

Altes Finanzamt taking part in Month of Performance. Berlin 2013

Musterzimmer at the solo exhibition. Berlin 2013.

Documentation of the exhibition :

0-10-4 0-3