Our annual sample of new performance returns to Contact with a new work-in-development from n:u (melissandre varin)…

evil eyes directly confronts the power dynamics embedded in gaze.

The evil eye is a belief, found across many cultures, that someone can cause harm just by looking at you. Some believe that it is put upon us by others, while some believe that it comes from our own pride.

Instead of ignoring or repulsing the energy of the evil eye, this performance-ritual demands its mobilisation and transmutation. Shadows and unprocessed energies are welcomed, acknowledged, and transformed — with both hands.

Attuning to ancestral and contemporary rituals around the evil eye, n:u traces the contours of emotions and energies that transcend binaries of good and evil.

You are invited to enter this performance-ritual experimenting with ancient cosmologies: Vodún figures of the twins, Celtic folklore, and African knowledge systems.

n:u (melissandre varin) is an atmosphere-maker with a practice rooted in Congolese, Guadeloupean, and Beninese heritages. Building upon (more than) human, cross-border collaborations, they unearth ancestral ceremonies to be with change. They play with unexpected pairings between materials, bodies, and concepts — disrupting colonial binaries and dominant narratives.