Helena Araújo and it gets better Huggy Bears Days

In her solo performance and it gets better, Helena Araújo uses humour, disobedience and comedic extravagance to dismantle the tough life of the art market. The performer invites the audience to a beach that throws a warm spotlight on the mental health of culture workers in the performing arts. Riding the toxic waves of the art market, she challenges the underrepresentation of precarious working conditions, constant traveling and harsh criticism in the field. Or is it simply a beach after all?

While Helena Araújo is sitting in a deckchair on the beach in her solo performance and it gets better, lecturing about warning signals or maybe fending off a couple of sharks, she humorously shares intimate stories and secret fears with the audience. And she tells of the times when curators had the weird habit of constantly referring to her as ‘Helena Araújo from Brazil’.

Emotions splash out with no sign of shame on this artificial, theatrical beach – splash, splash, splash! The shore gets wet, as the audience might from the saltwater. But it gets even better! Helena Araújo challenges the common idea that artists become more valuable the more they do – by trying the exact opposite: to do nothing. She fails, she tries again, she fails… being a freelance worker is no picnic. And hey, Araújo is still trying to find ways to deal with getting hurt, and she won’t give up any time soon. After all, things are bound to get better sooner or later.