Cuerpos celestes

Their shows have explored the traces of colonialism and unbridled capitalism in different countries, landscapes and ways. Now the performance duo of Laida Azkona Goñi and Txalo Toloza-Fernández has decided to examine this geological universe that we call home and that shapes us as human beings. Their vehicle for doing this is the series Falla; thus far they have presented Canto mineral, in which they gave the mineral and geological elements of our planet a voice, and Concierto geológico, a sound journey through the mineral and liquid world with Rodrigo Rammsy. In Cuerpos celestes [Celestial Bodies], the third part of the series, they ask about the future and, after a detailed analysis of the colonial past, whether it will also be colonial or whether there is a possible alternative. This future, which we may imagine a certain way due to the stories we have read and the films we have seen, is particularly difficult to glimpse in a world in the throes of the climate emergency. Within this context, AzkonaToloza focus on an increasingly popular trend: aerospace mining to search for resources off the planet. Are we about to colonise space in the quest for these minerals? Will we leave this to private companies or can we imagine an alternative future that avoids the discovery and colonisation of new territories?

These are the questions asked by two artists based in Barcelona but whose roots lie between the Mediterranean, the Pyrenees and the Atacama Desert. They create live art projects that explore the possibilities of poetry and visual anthropology, low-fidelity video creation, performance and movement. Their recent creations encompass documentaries that aim to reinterpret official history and shed light on the consequences of colonisation. As regular participants in the Grec Festival de Barcelona, they have presented shows like Teatro Amazonas (2020) and La col·lecció: petita caixa d’eines (2021).

Co-produced by AzkonaToloza, Théâtre Garonne - Scène Européene (Toulouse) and the Grec 2024 Festival de Barcelona.

With the support of the Catalan government’s Ministry of Culture and Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), Barcelona City Council’s 2023 Barcelona CREA Grants, Madrid’s Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque, Centre de Creació d'Arts Escèniques - El Canal de Salt and Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona​.

In conjunction with the Innova programme, promoted by the Caja Navarra and “La Caixa” foundations. 

The project has done residencies in Azala Espazioa, L’animal a l’esquena, Théâtre Garonne, Centro de Cultura Contemporánea Condeduque de Madrid, Fundació Brossa, El Canal - Centre d’Arts Escèniques in Salt, Teatre L’Ateneu de Celrà and Nau Ivanow.