Wu Tsang / Moved by the Motion: Carmen

Hartwig Art Foundation and Holland Festival proudly present Wu Tsang / Moved by the Motion’s adaptation of the renowned tragedy Carmen. Written by Prosper Mérimée in 1845 and reimagined thirty years later by Georges Bizet  as one of the most celebrated operas of all time, Carmen’s controversial tale remains in the collective consciousness of popular culture today.

“Carmen belongs to nobody and everybody. She is everything her creators feared, and everything they desired. What was a threat to them is an inspiration to us.” —Wu Tsang

Conceived in collaboration with writers Sophia Al-Maria and Fred Moten, Tsang / Moved by the Motion’s cross-disciplinary approach to Bizet’s four familiar acts reveals a subplot that transcends genre, language, and time. Thrown into a narrative of present day issues, the reinterpretation of this canonical work delves into the many layers of Carmen’s legacy to create a hybrid opera-theatre piece that speaks to a broader, contemporary audience. Movement direction and choreography from Tosh Basco and Josh Johnson respectively offer the transformative presence of three Carmen characters, two of which belong to the queer community, echoing Tsang’s sentiment of the protagonist’s lasting and universal influence. Bizet’s original score is interwoven with compositions by Andrew Yee in an altogether musical arrangement by Asma Maroof. 

Seamlessly working with language, movement and image, Moved by the Motion form a genre-bending adaptation that recontextualises the transcendental themes that Carmen embodies: love, loss and liberation.

“I am thrilled to once again collaborate with the immensely talented Wu Tsang and her collective, Moved by The Motion, to bring, after MOBY DICK in 2022, yet another groundbreaking production to Amsterdam in partnership with the Holland Festival. Carmen has been reinterpreted on many occasions since its creation. This rendition not only delves into the original conception of the piece but also brilliantly deconstructs society’s gaze on a Roma woman asserting her independence.” —Beatrix Ruf, director Hartwig Art Foundation

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La gran mentira de la muerte
Wu Tsang is also creating a new film installation based on the story of Carmen, commissioned by Hartwig Art Foundation and TBA-21. Filmed in Seville, it explores poetic themes of Carmen, particularly as her myth is entangled with the performative fields of flamenco and bullfighting. Like the opera composed by Georges Bizet, these fields evoke the spectacle of death and implicate the spectator as a part of it. This work brings the ritual performance of death (real and imagined) into a conversation with cinema, which bears its own murderous traditions.

MACBA will premiere the film installation La gran mentira de la muerte (July 20–November 3, 2024).

Performance credits
Cast Alicia Aumüller, Tosh Basco, Ryan Capozzo, Tabita Johannes, Josh Johnson, Asude Karayavuz, Kay Kysela, New Kyd, Katia Ledoux, Perle Palombe, Benjamin Radjaipour, Songhay Toldon, Ondrej Vidlar/ artistic direction Moved by the Motion/ staging Wu Tsang/ movement direction Tosh Basco/ choreography Josh Johnson/ musical direction Asma Maroof, Collegium Novum Zoi Tsokanou/ composition Andrew Yee/ correpetition Jonathan Palmer Lakeland/ script Sophia Al-Maria/ stage design Nicole Hoesli, Nina Mader/ costume design Kyle Luu/ hair Design Sara Mathiasson/ dramaturgy Helena Eckert/ artistic research Fred Moten, Pie.fmc (Pedro G. Romero, Joaquín Vázquez, Enrique Fuenteblanca) in cooperation with Collegium Novum Zürich & The Solti Foundation/ production Schauspielhaus Zürich, co-commissioned with Hartwig Art Foundation.

Wu Tsang / Moved by the Motion
Wu Tsang is an award-winning filmmaker and performance artist. Her works explore hidden histories, marginalised narratives, and the act of performing itself. Within her deeply collaborative practice, she frequently partners with the performance group she co-founded in 2016 with artist Tosh Basco, known as Moved by the Motion. Moved by the Motion comprises a diverse ensemble of interdisciplinary artists, including experimental cellist Patrick Belaga, dancer Josh Johnson, electronic musician Asma Maroof, and poet Fred Moten.

Wu Tsang’s work has been presented at museums, biennials, and film festivals internationally. Since 2019 she is the resident director at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. Some of her long-term collaborators moved to Zurich with Tsang joining the Schauspielhaus ensemble: Tosh Basco (fka boychild), Asma Maroof and Josh Johnson.

About Hartwig Art Foundation
Hartwig Art Foundation is dedicated to fostering and facilitating the production, presentation, mediation, preservation, and collection of contemporary art. In addition to its multiple activities in productions with artists and partnerships with a wide range of institutions, Hartwig Art Foundation is currently developing a new museum for contemporary art in Amsterdam. For more information, please visit here.

Hartwig Art Foundation previously co-commissioned Wu Tsang / Moved by the Motion’s MOBY DICK; or, The Whale and co-presented the Italian premiere with TBA-21 and the Dutch premiere with Holland Festival 2022.