‘Escaping My Corpse’ is a twenty minute long performance. It follows a monologue by the ghost of a female Phyllium (Leaf insect), named Óó who is attached to her corpse locked in the archives of the Zoology Museum at the University of Cambridge (UK). During her monologue, Óó speaks of her days in the jungle, her relationship with her beloved leaves, and the struggles of being condemned to live in such a lifeless and sterile environment. She manages to sever herself from her corpse by latching on to a woman, Camila, who one day visited the museum archives and resonated so deeply with Óó that she was irresistibly drawn to her. From then onwards, Óó incessantly haunts Camila so that she travels to her jungle and her plants.
The photo documentation comes from the premiere at Cumplicidades Festival, in 2020 at Culturgest, Lisbon.
Óó, 2020, hand-dyed wild silk and copper.
This work was by itself in the antechamber of the room where the performance took place — a prologue to the performance.
Catarina de Oliveira 