I Think We Need To Talk (research lab)

Under the title I think we need to talk (research lab), Collectief Elan(d) wants to create theatrical and visual interventions that restore contact in public space in a poetic and sometimes absurdist way. The public space serves as both a decor and a stage. The interventions traverse the boundaries between architectural sculpture, social experiment, theatre and choreography.

For the Open Studios, the collective is mainly taking to the streets. Passers-by are invited to stop and look at the images that the three performers create with an enormous amount of pink wool. They are also welcome to participate by doing some finger crocheting themselves. Keep your eyes open and see pink threads, weavings and balls emerge around the Kaaistudios. Traces of the interventions can be found in the expo route.

Times of the interventions on the street:

• Thursday 15 April between 2 and 5pm
• Friday 16 April between 2 and 5pm

This research lab is a first step in the thought process for a new project. In I think we need to talk, everything will be put on the table. It will be a performance about the impossibility of putting everything into words. About the limitations of language. About the big and small stories of people. About our urge to connect. About wanting to be understood and wanting to understand. About communication, both verbal and non-verbal. Collectief Elan(d) wonders how people communicate in these times. How do we deal with each other? And how has the corona crisis affected our way of connecting? How can public space in a new way represent and enable encounters theatrically?

The pop-up interventions by Collectief Elan(d) are part of workspacebrussels' Open Studios programme. For this XL edition in April 2021, we have mapped out a museum-like route through the Kaaistudios and workspacebrussels. As you discover both buildings from sides you haven’t seen before, you will be surprised by installations, sculptures and videos set up in unexpected places. But the experience doesn’t end there: we also invite you to a curated walk in the city and a WhatsApp performance.