Installation Grace Tjang (Grace Ellen Barkey) / Needcompany: MALAM / NIGHT

Water burbles, patterns and images flit through this somnambulistic installation, in which a soloist dances – a shadow diva in a shiny sequin dress. Grace Ellen Barkey, who was born in Surabaya, Indonesia, and co­-founded the Belgian Needcompany to­ gether with Jan Lauwers, has decolonised her name for this new work. She now calls herself Grace Tjang after her grandmother. In MALAM / NIGHT she plays the dhalang, the puppeteer, in the ancient wayang pup­ pet­shadow play from Java, enchanting the audience with dreamlike poetry. Tjang’s nocturnal observations of the plants in her garden served as inspiration.