Étude is both a practice piece and in many cases, a work of art. The études that follow aspire to be both.
This project was created as part of Xenia Creative Retreat residency between 1-25 July, 2025.
Thanks to Bianca and her lovely family, and the entire Xenia team: Jaye, Lucy, Kyle, Melissa, and the guest artists who stayed during this period: Emily, Savvas, Alice, and Emma. The conversations with you all have contributed significantly to this piece.
ÉTUDES* is a multidisciplinary project that began during a residency at Xenia in July 2025.
It consists of five chapters: four etudes titled ISOLATION, DUCK, AIM, and RUN, reflecting different dimensions of conflict, and a final chapter titled WONDER.
Following our research at Xenia in the UK, we are developing the project into a dance and sound performance, expanding and transforming the visual materials created there. What started as practical tasks evolved into standalone artistic works that together express a raw and urgent response to the realities we come from. Creating art under the weight of war over the past two years, and in the shadow of atrocities committed in our name as Israeli citizens, compelled us to seek external spaces for both physical safety and the creative freedom necessary to continue our work.
The project explores the duality of living under extreme conditions: the tension between the basic instinct to survive and the deeper longing for meaning, fulfillment, and a life beyond mere survival.The fifth chapter, WONDER, filmed in a crater formed during World War II, reflects nature’s quiet resilience in the face of destruction and its ability to regenerate and endure. We see this natural response as a source of inspiration and a reminder that the force of life can overcome violence, and that even after war there remains space for growth, beauty, and wonder.To fully develop ÉTUDES into a dance and sound performance, we need a stable and supportive environment that allows concentrated artistic research, physical and creative safety, and time for reflection and experimentation. PACT Zollverein’s residency program offers exactly the context we require: a space that supports process-based work and enables us to translate visual etudes created under pressure into a full, embodied performance.
This next phase is about allowing the project to breathe, evolve, and resonate in a setting that values inquiry, artistic depth, and the transformative power of art.
From ancient times to modern era resilience is rooted in faith, memory, and a deep commitment to life.
We ask what the connection is between resilience, purpose, and war. and if resilience only born out of extreme situations?
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