Layers of Skin
Multimedia installation by Ana Lessing Menjibar
In the frame of :Love:
To coincide with the reprise of the performance “Third Skin” at Radialsystem, Spanish-German choreographer and artist Ana Lessing Menjibar opens the multi-media archive “Layers of Skin” in Radialsystem's Kubus. The installation was developed in close collaboration with dramaturg Isabel Gatzke and formed the basis of the performance. “Layers of Skin” becomes a place of remembrance where Ana Lessing Menjibar makes an in-depth political and artistic research process tangible. Beginning with the biographies of her parents and the resistance of their community, she investigates the (post-) fascist contexts of Germany and Spain.
A large-scale composition of interviews, images and sounds tells of the respective political systems, experiences of war and fascism, personal fates impacted by violence and resistance, and the political function of art and culture. The movements of these multidirectional and transnational memories are shaped by the embodied knowledge of Flamenco: Sharing emotions becomes a kind of empowerment of the body, a source of dialogue and an expression of resistance. In this way, remembering itself becomes a radical political practice in the installation, opposing silence.
“Layers of Skin” (2025) is part of the artist’s ongoing practice dealing with embodied archives, ways of remembering, collective and individual wounds and the power of (poetic) resistance. For the first time, this work highlights the continuous research process as part of her artistic practice. As a growing body, the installation will accompany future guest performances of “Third Skin”.
Accessibility / Content Notes
Presentation in English, German and Spanish. The installation can also be experienced without knowledge of these languages.
Radialsystem ♥ Tanzfabrik
Tanzfabrik ♥ Radialsystem
Tanzfabrik Berlin and Radialsystem have presented artists to a broad audience on the stages of Radialsystem since spring 2019. The collaboration aims to improve the labor and presentation conditions of dance professionals in Berlin beyond their individual institutional contexts. In addition to the visibility of this joint platform, an important moment of nexus between local and international artists and scenes is achieved. Both institutions provide equal support to the artists in the forms of co-production resources, rehearsal spaces and public relations work.
A large-scale composition of interviews, images and sounds tells of the respective political systems, experiences of war and fascism, personal fates impacted by violence and resistance, and the political function of art and culture. The movements of these multidirectional and transnational memories are shaped by the embodied knowledge of Flamenco: Sharing emotions becomes a kind of empowerment of the body, a source of dialogue and an expression of resistance. In this way, remembering itself becomes a radical political practice in the installation, opposing silence.
“Layers of Skin” (2025) is part of the artist’s ongoing practice dealing with embodied archives, ways of remembering, collective and individual wounds and the power of (poetic) resistance. For the first time, this work highlights the continuous research process as part of her artistic practice. As a growing body, the installation will accompany future guest performances of “Third Skin”.
Accessibility / Content Notes
Presentation in English, German and Spanish. The installation can also be experienced without knowledge of these languages.
Radialsystem ♥ Tanzfabrik
Tanzfabrik ♥ Radialsystem
Tanzfabrik Berlin and Radialsystem have presented artists to a broad audience on the stages of Radialsystem since spring 2019. The collaboration aims to improve the labor and presentation conditions of dance professionals in Berlin beyond their individual institutional contexts. In addition to the visibility of this joint platform, an important moment of nexus between local and international artists and scenes is achieved. Both institutions provide equal support to the artists in the forms of co-production resources, rehearsal spaces and public relations work.
Ana Lessing Menjibar
Ana Lessing Menjibar (she/her) is a German-Spanish performer, dancer, choreographer and multidisciplinary artist from Berlin. Her interdisciplinary work combines body with sound, multimedia and sculptural elements as an extended choreographic practice and experiments with the transformative potential of flamenco in the context of performance and contemporary dance. Ana Lessing Menjibar studied Visual Communication at the UdK-Berlin and the Performance Research Master SODA at the HZT-Berlin.
Daily: 16:00-23:00 / Opening: Thu 20:30 / Sun: only until 22:00
Free admission
Free admission
Artistic concept and installation: Ana Lessing Menjibar
Research and interviews: Ana Lessing Menjibar, Isabel Gatzke
Dramaturgy and production: Friederike Kötter
Sound Design: Freya Bowers
The presentation of “Layers of Skin” at Radialsystem is made possible by the support of Radialsystem and Tanzfabrik Berlin and funded by the Stipendium Tanzpraxis of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
Media partnerships: The Berliner, Rausgegangen, taz - die tageszeitung, tip Berlin.
Research and interviews: Ana Lessing Menjibar, Isabel Gatzke
Dramaturgy and production: Friederike Kötter
Sound Design: Freya Bowers
The presentation of “Layers of Skin” at Radialsystem is made possible by the support of Radialsystem and Tanzfabrik Berlin and funded by the Stipendium Tanzpraxis of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.
Media partnerships: The Berliner, Rausgegangen, taz - die tageszeitung, tip Berlin.
