The Enemy of My Enemy

2017-2019

The Enemy of My Enemy is an iterative, hybrid digital/live performance project simultaneously linking performers and audiences in the US and our so-called “enemy” nations of China, Russia and Iran to explore nationalism, enemy-ness, and the Internet as an experiential “third space” for 21st Century performance.

Using every day technology, these bi-locational works– Detroit-Beijing, Detroit-Tehran, Detroit-Moscow – and site-specific interventions unites actors, sculptors, musicians, video artists, choreographers, performance artists and philosophers to peel back the layers of history, language, identity, and politics that divide us within the “free zone” where Internet and live performance meet.

Initial projects began in September 2017 with [] the Line, a telematic performance workshop with artists in Tehran and Detroit co-created and co-led by Ava Ansari/Poetic Societies, The Hinterlands, and Renee Willoughby, and in partnership with Pejman Foundation (Kandovan); research into technology and connectivity continued in December 2017 in Beijing with project partners choreographer Gu Jiani and Untitled Group (shikouwutuan), and has expanded to collaboration with visual artists Zahra Moein (Mälmo/Isfahan), Shen Bolun (Beijing) & TGIS (Beijing) and philosophers Oleg Aronson and Helena Petrovsky (Moscow).

Donate to The Enemy of My Enemy Through our fiscal sponsor, Allied Media Projects.

Projects include:

Excerpts from The Enemy of My Enemy Detroit/Beijing Rehearsals 2017.

Psychogeographic Stroll A part of The Hinterlands' Border Blast 2 and The Enemy of My Enemy A guided walk along the Detroit/Hamtramck border led by Hamtramck local, artist, and thinker Walter Wasacz, in virtual conversation with philosophers Helen Petrovsky + Oleg Aronson in Moscow, Russia, and labor scholar Jonathan Flatley in Detroit. Created with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Art X Detroit

An exchange of hand stories between Liza (Detroit) and Javid (Tehran). This is a short clip from [] the line - an ongoing collaborative workshop between artists in Detroit and Tehran conducted over the internet. Organized by The Hinterlands (Detroit), Poetic Societies (Detroit), and Pejman Foundation (Tehran). This workshop is a part of a larger series of collaborative projects between artists in the U.S. and artists in Iran, China, and Russia called The Enemy of My Enemy.

See You in My Dreams, an iterative series of digitally connected bedtime story hours between Beijing (led by artist Shen Bolun) and Detroit, with Detroit artists sharing daily US news propaganda about China as our Beijing counterparts fall asleep, and Detroit artists falling asleep twelve hours later to Chinese news propaganda about the US. Held in a simultaneous public iteration at TGIS (Beijing) and Discount Mattress (Detroit).

uTopian Dinner, two weekends of participatory dinners on the road in the MOCAD Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead digitally connecting in to a transcontinenal brunch with TGIS (Beijing), a summertime snack with Pavel Mitenko (Russia), tea time with Lena and Oleg (Moscow) led by Jonathan Flatley (Detroit) - August 2018

Shikouwutuan exchange (Beijing), a two week research session into technology and connectivity in Beijing with project partners choreographer Gu Jiani and Untitled Group (shikouwutuan) - December 2017

[] the Line, a telematic performance workshop with artists in Tehran and Detroit co-created and co-led by Ava Ansari/Poetic Societies, The Hinterlands, and Renee Willoughby, in partnership with Pejman Foundation (Kandovan) - September 2017

See You in My Dreams A part of The Hinterlands' Border Blast 2 and The Enemy of My Enemy A propaganda bedtime story read by Hinterlands Co-Director Liza Bielby (Detroit) to artist Shen Bolun (Beijing); American headlines about China become the stuff of dreams as Shen Bolun drifts off to sleep. This event took place simultaneously at Discount Mattress Store in Detroit and TGIS artist space in Beijing with audience in both locations. Created with support from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Art X Detroit

A simultaneous participatory performance event constructed around food, flavors, and personal identity held on August 4/5, 2018, at the Mike Kelley Mobile Homestead (Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit) on the road at Sidewalk Festival (Detroit) and simultaneously at the TGIS headquarters near Gu Luo, Beijing. By TGIS & The Hinterlands. With funds from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Work on The Enemy of My Enemy is funded through the MAP Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Detroit Knight Arts Challenge 2016, the Network of Ensemble Theaters’ NET/TEN Exchange program, and Asian Cultural Council.

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