Sibyl Kempson: 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens

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12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens, a three-year iterative performance project by American playwright, director, and performer Sibyl Kempson, will be presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art on twelve occasions through December 2018. An original work by Kempson commissioned by the Whitney, 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens marks each Solstice and Equinox, creating a new ceremonial calendar and a contemporary mythology. Bringing into play the Whitney’s architecture and its porous relationship with the city and natural world, Kempson engages the museum as a strategic frame and entry point for each of these rituals. With a sensitivity and focus toward the specific cycles and rhythms of the days, seasons, and human activities of the site, 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens explores the location’s layered history and cultural significance.

With dramaturgy and research by Thomas Riccio, scholar of ritual, indigenous performance, and shamanism, Kempson’s work stems from deep exploration of cultural history, art history, mythology, metaphysics, and ritual. Throughout the three-year process of presenting 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens at the Museum, she will engage with various sound artists, choreographers, and visual artists, among others. In addition to Riccio, collaborators for the 2016 Summer Solstice celebration include Tei Blow (sound design), Suzanne Bocanegra (costumes), Hye Young Chyun (props), Maurina Lioce (stage manager), Jodi Melnick (choreography), Amanda Villalobos (stained glass), and Sarah Willis (ceramics). Kempson presents the work with her theater company, 7 Daughters of Eve Theater & Performance Company. Featured performers in 12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens include Eryk Aughenbaugh, Dee Dorcas Beasnael, Anne Gridley, Eleanor Hutchins, Oceana James , Robert M. Johanson, Kempson, Maurina Lioce, Sarah Matusek, Melnick, Tavish Miller, Sahra Motalebi, Victoria Roberts-Wierzbowski, and Tanya Selvaratnam.

12 Shouts to the Ten Forgotten Heavens is organized by Greta Hartenstein, Senior Curatorial Assistant, and Jay Sanders, Engell Speyer Family Curator and Curator of Performance.