FUTURE SONGS OF FISH AND PEOPLE
Future Songs for Fish and People is a commissioned project by the local community of Ummanz to Amanda Piña. The project is born from the community of fishers who are facing the disappearance of their own artisanal fishing techniques, limited and forbidden from practicing their craft under the larger European regulations on pool fisheries and trawling, dragging a fishnet on the sea floor catching fish, but also destroying the reef systems that exist. From the dialogues between Amanda Piña and the fisher communities, there is only one artisanal fisher left who is actively still doing his craft. Their most important fishing produce they are known by are the European eel (Anguilla Anguilla) and the Atlantic Hering (Clupea harengus). However the fishers have noticed that “the fish are not coming anymore”, leading to the idea that the absence of fish led to the disappearance of artisanal fishing. Nevertheless, these two species are subjected to climate change that have altered their way of circulating in the sea. Certainly, this is due to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) imminent collapse, influenced by global boiling, the acidification of the oceans and the extractivistic intervention of the Capitaloscene. The sudden collapse of the AMOC has led to a change of temperatures of the currents that have altered the migration process of the eel, and getting disoriented from their mysterious birth place in the Mexican gulf to the Baltic sea. Concerning the herring, since they group in banks of fish, the industrial overfishing of mature specimens have left the younger generations without a guide, meaning they have changed their places of living.
Therefore, Future Songs of Fish and People is a tribute to both fishers and fish who are facing their disappearance, affecting the broader popultions. At the same time, this cycle reveals how intertwined ecological protection is to social practices. And at the end, this performance honors both groups that live or are in c ontact with the Bodden. The performance was designed to happen outside following the tradition of the fishermen who came together for specific religious events, like having mass by the coast before going to the sea, and also to go in contact with the body of water that is hosting all the marine life and was the place of encounter for both fisher and people.
Photos: Victoria Tomaschko
The artistic direction we took for the costume was to recycle preexisting garments and refashion them for the characterization of each spokesbeing. Inspired both by latin-american maximalism and the ornamental nature of traditional costumes of the region, we adopted a medieval futuristic and solar punk aesthetic that fitted the festive yet grieveful message of the ritual.
2026
Costumes for 20 performers, outerlayer and undergarments
Silicone prosthetics and gills,
Trophies: copper plated 3D print, agar-agar and shrimp purée.
Fishbanners: tulle and boning
Further viewing
Circus Eins Project
Neue Auftraggeber