Duration - 3hours 11minutes
Full video available on request*
"We Were Never Here" is a durational performance by Aparna Ashok, created during the RUFA University Summer Lab, Performing Rome. Inspired by the cold stillness of Michelangelo’s Pietà, Aparna draws on the haunting image of Mary cradling the lifeless body of Christ, her expression a blank canvas, untouched by visible anguish. This performance delves into the paradox of grief—the silent, unspoken weight we carry when confronted with loss, and the elusive, intangible nature of time as it slips through our hands.
As we face death and the fading memories of those we’ve lost, We Were Never Here asks: Do we grieve for what once was, or for the futures that will never come to pass? What role does time play in shaping our understanding of pain—does it truly heal, or does it deepen the void, distorting our sense of self and our relationship to those we’ve lost? How do we hold onto grief, and does it ever fully release its grip?
Aparna invites her audience to sit with these questions, to feel the coldness of absence, and to confront the shadows of a fleeting existence. Can we ever truly grasp the moment of loss, or are we forever chasing the echoes of a presence that was never really there?
In this performance, the weight of absence is palpable—an exploration of the way time distorts, transcends, and transforms our emotions, our memories, and the spaces left behind. As we witness the passage of time, We Were Never Here becomes a reflection on how the grief we carry can both fade and persist, leaving us in a paradoxical state of both presence and absence.
This piece was created under the guidance of Marta Jovanovic and assisted by Chantal Spapens.