'My Bodily Remains', a film directed by one of the most influential artists in the United Kingdom, winner of a Turner Prize, is presented at the Gulbenkian Foundation on February 8th, in a collaboration between CAM and POR.TA - Association for the Promotion of Arts and Culture.
After the screening of 'My Bodily Remains' in Auditorium 3, a conversation follows between Tai Shani and Bianca Chu, the artist, researcher and member of the POR:TA advisory board.
For this film, made in 2023, Tai Shani was inspired by classic works of literature, such as 'Destroy, Say She', by Marguerite Duras, academic texts by Jackie Wang, among others, and works by filmmakers such as Jacques Rivette. Tai Shani constructs a surprising series of fantastic filmic tableaux inspired by various genres, from horror to dreamy Technicolor fantasies.
The result is a poetic meditation on historical resistance movements and groups, anti-supremacism, communism and revolutionary thought.
Regarding his first performance in Portugal, Tai Shani says he is “very happy” for this debut and for it taking place at the Gulbenkian Foundation. “The Gulbenkian was the first cultural space I visited when I discovered the city and it is a space I always like to return to”.
Regarding his relationship with Lisbon, Tai Shani reveals that he “feels the city like a second home”, where he frequently returns to visit his mother who lives in Portugal. Another reason that connects her to the country is related to a visit she made to the Museu do Aljube Resistência e Liberdade, during which she incorporated some ideas that had an impact on her work. During this visit he realized “that the causes and struggles of revolutionary movements in Portugal were the same in the various territories oppressed by fascist dictatorships and that these movements operated in an international network and not in isolation”.
The visit to the Aljube Museum also gave him a very precise idea “about the individual struggle of each resister, their personal stories of sacrifice and total dedication of their lives to a greater cause”. He considers that these stories “are not generally transmitted and taught because they are very powerful, they are a weapon that governments do not want the people to have”.
The work features digital animations by Adam Sinclair and an original soundtrack by Maxwell Sterling, both long-time collaborators of the artist, and also by Richard Fearless, member of the musical band Death in Vegas.
The film 'My Bodily Remains' was co-commissioned by POR:TA, Art Night, CCA Cincinnati and KM21. Entrance is free if you pick up a ticket on the same day.
About Tai Shani and Bianca Chu
Tai Shani was born in London. His artistic practice includes performance, cinema, photography and installation. Uses experimental writing as a guiding method. Between theoretical concepts and visceral details, Shani's texts attempt to create poetic coordinates to cultivate cosmologies of marginalized non-sovereignty. Tai Shani won the 2019 Turner Prize, along with Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Helen Cammock and Oscar Murillo. His work has been exhibited widely in Britain and internationally.
Bianca Chu was born in New York and lives between London and Lisbon. She is an artist, writer, researcher and art anthropologist. She is a strategic advisor and representative of Turnbull Studio, is part of the advisory board of the POR.TA Cultural Association, and was co-president of Tate Young Patrons, in London (2020-2023). Bianca published in Umbigo magazine, and contributed a new chapter on Kim Lim to the artist's exhibition catalogue, published by Hepworth Wakefield and Lund Humphries.
Source: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation