ROOTS !

Mabe Bethonico

Root Insights: Observations and Subterranean Perspectives

This Labzone focuses on the collective creation of a video and/or installation. We will develop characters in the form of marionettes or masks to convey perspectives from the underground, which can be both factual and metaphorical. The architecture of roots provides a unique vantage point to explore soil dynamics and connect with broader concepts such as heritage, origins, points of fixation, and beginnings. What defines your roots? What structures or foundations serve as your starting point? Where do you usually begin?

The Labzone includes a workshop in collaboration with the Théâtre de Marionnettes de Genève (TMG). Over five days, participants will work together to create forms with a guest contributor puppet creator/ set designer and develop narratives/voices for subsequent filming and editing. The workshop will take place at the TMG construction rooms on Boulevard Helvétique, which previously housed the WorkMaster before our move to the new facilities in Charmilles.

An initial meeting day will be dedicated to preparation, organization, and study. We will then visit the Botanical Gardens for research and have a guided visit to TMG’s collection for an inspirational dive into their history, possibly led by Isabelle Matter, its director.

The work produced in the frame of the Labzone will figure in the exhibition Planetary Peasants, in the Moritzburg Museum, in Halle, Germany from 1st May, 2025, curated by Alexander Klose and Daniel Herrmann.(https://www.kunstmuseum-moritzburg.de/en/museum-exhibitions/the-art-museum/). We will also present the resulting piece in Geneva in a screening during a public event of the TMG in the courtyard of the Theatre towards mid May.