A portal to another dimension is what women’s bodies are. Yet… in England and Wales alone ‘Two million women are estimated to be victims of violence perpetrated by men each year…’ according to National Police Chiefs’ Council . These are cautious estimates, as much crime goes unreported and police only see the tip of the iceberg.
In the year ending March 2023, the majority of defendants in domestic abuse-related prosecutions were men (92%), and the majority of victims were female (78%). Equally disquieting, this is a worsening trend: ‘Recorded cases of violence against women and girls increased by 37% between 2018 and 2023, now running at 3,000 offences a day. Crimes include stalking, harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence’. I want to R&D a multi-media performance to address this issue using immersive tech, aerial arts, dance and spoken word.
Sexual and physical violence against women and girls and their commodification have reached the highest level ever recorded, largely driven by technology. Police chiefs warn of young men being “radicalised” online by influencers such as Andrew Tate. Chanje wants to be able to take all the subjugation women have had, burn it down and rise into the new dawn. ‘I feel like to somehow Reclaim the Night is all about reclaiming ourselves, reclaiming our bodies and reclaiming our right to experience joy. That necessarily means the joy of inhabiting our own bodies and knowing the nirvana our bodies are capable of experiencing, and the knowledge of self as a celestial body.’
While being non-binary inclusive, the vision is to elevate women (cis and trans alike); drawing parallels between the infinite majesty of the universe and the magnificent divinity of women. We live in an utterly astounding universe but we are unable to see it because of light pollution. Similarly through the ‘light pollution’ of abuse and exploitation in the digital age, women are unable to see how utterly astounding they really are. We are celestial bodies as magical as any starry night..
The Hubble telescope has finally seen galaxies of immeasurable beauty and in our hearts and in our minds, we long to engage. The reality of the night, is that it is this glorious morass of stars and nebula. Maybe that’s like like who we really are. Inside we are a morass of neutrons and protons and spiralling electrons orbiting.
All images and videos taken by the Hubble and James Webb telescopes are free and available on the NASA website. I would like to create an immersive performance combining celestial imagery with aerial arts, namely spinning pole and aerial hoop, with spoken word voiceover, to tell the story of female sexual empowerment the way an astronomer tells the story of the night sky. My show does not purport to stop the tsunami of abuse that is assailing us, but it will begin to restore women to their rightful place of majesty.
I want audience members to be absolutely transported by this reclaiming of women as universes within themselves. Hopefully women in the audience will recognise their own divinity. I hope men in the audience will shift their consciousness and alter their actions
‘Moonbase’ will be a metaphor for the basis of the Reclaim the Night Movement. Lunar conditions of reduced gravity, coldness and toxic lunar dust could be used as a metaphor for the toxic experiences of sexual violence, harassment and/or abuse, the inability to breathe; the loneliness; the struggle. The project will also look at Past and Present Reclaim the night movements.
*The images on this page were taken from Chanje’s previous show ‘Celestial Bisexual’ click here to see info https://www.chanjekunda.com/celestial-bisexual/