The German premiere of Muna Mussie’s performance-installation Oblio took place on September 15, 2024 in Tanzfabrik Berlin’s new project space Grüntaler9.
The shop on Grüntaler Straße in Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, which will function as an additional venue for Tanzfabrik until June 2025, is almost nondescript from the outside. Looking through the two large shop windows ahead of the 90-minute performance-installation Oblio, I can only discern the outlines of what lies hidden behind. As the door opens at 4pm, the intimate space reveals itself. Dark gray, tightly woven netting is stretched between the two side walls at a height of one meter. Behind it, artist Muna Mussie sits on a chair weaving a gold thread into the material with a long needle. Her face is hidden behind the banner. The only light occasionally coming through the barrier is from a headlamp. Muna Mussie is wearing black work clothes. Balls of yarn and leftover thread lie around her. The last two day’s work extends across the banner: the letters R, D, R, Ä, N, G, U, N and G, precise and imposing. The constant movement of her stitching causes the material to flutter gently so that the golden threads sparkle in the spotlight. The process of completing the word is accompanied by the sound installation Curva Cieca Oblio ኩርቫ ዕውር ምርሳዕ by Muna Mussie and Massimo Carozzi. A loop of choral chants and whispering voices are a backdrop to the meditative installation, which, despite their simplicity, leave me raptly following each stitch.
Stitch for stitch the last two letters emerge. The word “VERDRÄNGUNG (REPRESSION)” now finally shines on the dark background. With a wispy thread, Muna Mussie connects the upper left corner of the first letter with the lower right side of the last one. The word she weaved with such patience and precision all day long is now crossed out. Rejection.
Repress instead of forget (ital. oblio – oblivion)? What is being repressed? Who is being repressed? Who is forgotten?
The multi-layered meaning of the word “repression” stays with me on my way home. Berlin-Gesundbrunnen was historically a working class quarter whose proximity to the wall after 1961 made it “less attractive” and, as a result, more affordable, leading many (former) guest worker families to make a home for themselves there. For years, gentrification has been slowly creeping into Gesundbrunnen and all of Wedding, becoming palpable for residents. A fluttering, wispy thread striking through repression.
Tanzfabrik has resolved to engage in a dialogue with the neighborhood with its temporary venue Grüntaler9. According to its opening flyer, this season they want to invite neighbors to experience new types of dance and art. With Oblio as a clear kick-off, I am excited to see what will happen in the next nine months and how the store will be revived.
English translation by Melissa Maldonado
Oblio by Muna Mussie premiered in Germany on September 15, 2024 at Grüntaler9 (Tanzfabrik Berlin).
