ance
MARZANNA >> a critique of contemporary incarnations of a Polish rites of spring tradition known as “Drowning Marzanna.” Today this popular ritual revolves around waterboarding and eventually drowning homemade effigies of a woman representing the Slavic goddess Marzanna responsible for the change of season as well as death and rebirth.
The work is an interactive performance installation with body piercing, video, and recorded sound. Over the duration of the performance Nawracaj makes a "Marzanna" effigy in their own image with the help of the audience, pinning their own body with hypodermic needles as they pin the effigy with dressmaker pins. The artist explains and enacts the “Drowning Marzanna” tradition against a video backdrop of Wikipedia entries and Polish springtime social media posts gleefully resplendent with hashtags like "#drownthebitch."
MARZANNA was a part of the Link and Pin Performance Art Series at RATS 9 Montreal in 2015.
photography Christian Bujold