Duncan Evennou: From Parasite to Symbiosis: Performing in the Age of the terrestrial

In vier künstlerischen und theoretischen Vorträgen beleuchtet die Reihe „Performanz | Performance“ die künstlerische Praktik aus verschiedenen Richtungen. Den Abschluss macht der französische Performer Duncan Evennou.

This talk explores how performance, once seen as a parasitic form infiltrating artistic and institutional structures, has evolved into a vital, autonomous language — one that adapts to changing contexts and engages with them in new ways. In light of today’s ecological and geopolitical crises, performance emerges not just as an art form, but as a responsive, living medium – a site where the changing relationship between body, space, and environment can be experienced and reimagined. What was once foreign and disruptive now operates symbiotically, offering tools to inhabit and represent the world differently. Through both theoretical reflection and personal practice, this presentation asks: how can performance help us map a new earth – in aesthetic, political, and scientific terms – in a time of transformation?

Duncan Evennou is a French performer and stage director born in 1988. He graduated from the National School of Drama at the Théâtre National de Bretagne under the direction of Stanislas Nordey, and later completed the SPEAP program (Sciences Po Experimental Program in Arts and Politics) led by Bruno Latour. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Art and Ecology at Teesside University.

His work, situated at the intersection of theatre, research, and visual arts, explores contemporary narratives and collective forms of representation. In 2018, he founded The Lighthouse Company, a platform dedicated to performative projects addressing political and ecological issues. He collaborates closely with Frédérique Aït-Touati within the Zone Critique company, in dialogue with Bruno Latour and Emanuele Coccia. As a performer, he has worked with a wide range of contemporary artists, including Ulla von Brandenburg, Stanislas Nordey, Émilie Rousset, Lancelot Hamelin, Ivana Müller, Tino Sehgal, Pauline Simon, Aude Lachaise, Joris Lacoste, Nadia Vonder Heyden, and Sophie Aude Picon, among others. These collaborations inform a transversal practice that spans social sciences, installation, and performance. Among his own works are Matters, a performance based on Anthropocene archives; MississippiS, a sound-based documentary journey along the Mississippi River; and L’Assemblée des rêves, co-created with Lancelot Hamelin, which explores the terrain of dreams and the political unconscious. In 2025, he will present his upcoming project, Petrified Museum, created in collaboration with Anne-Sophie Milon, at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale.