Femke Herregraven | Twenty Birds Inside Her Chest
Femke Herregraven, alum of Main Department Design (2008–2010), and current candidate for the Creator Doctus at Sandberg Instituut (2020–2023), presents documentation from the work Twenty Birds Inside Her Chest (2021), from 13th Gwangju Biennale–Minds Rising Spirits Tuning, April 1–May 9 2021, curated by Defne Ayas and Natasha Ginwala.
How can a new voice emerge from a catastrophic moment? Twenty Birds Inside Her Chest (2021) by Femke Herregraven explores the aquatic voice and the watery commons as a site of resistance in times of planetary catastrophe to counter “discourses of doom.” Following Elaine Morgan’s controversial hypothesis that humans evolved from isolated, semi-aquatic primates and not the “mighty male hunter,” Twenty Birds Inside Her Chest interprets the bodily instincts of the haenyeo, female freedivers on Jeju Island, through a living sound archive of the sumbisori, the high-pitched whistle emitted by the haenyeo as they surface from deep water. Often described as both lilting and haunting, the sound is the result of the forceful expulsion of carbon dioxide from their lungs followed by a quick intake of fresh oxygen. In the artist’s words, “the sumbisori symbolizes not only their adaptation to water but also the moment of moving between life and death, of overcoming the moment.” Herregraven’s archive is intended to preserve the haenyeo’s aquatic voice of communal survival and will be returned to the community following the exhibition.
View further documentation and information at: http://femkeherregraven.net/twenty-birds-inside-her-chest/
Read an interview between Maarten Buser and Femke about this work on Metropolis M at: https://www.metropolism.com/en/features/43347_diving_with_a_coffin_on_your_back_a_conversation_with_femke_herregraven_and_defne_ayas_on_gwangju_biennale
Read an interview between Laurens Otto and Femke about Sandberg Instituut’s Creator Doctus Programme here: https://sandberg.nl/interview-creator-doctus-femke-herregraven
Follow Femke on Instagram at @femherregraven.
