Wardrobe Memories
2018
Participatory performance in public space
Sommerøya Festival, Oslo, Norway
Wardrobe Memories is a participatory performance developed for the two-day Sommerøya music festival in Oslo. As one of my first artistic interventions in Norway after migrating, the work emerged from a curiosity about how audiences in a new social and cultural context might respond to invitations to participate in public space.
With no cloakroom available at the outdoor festival, I approached visitors and offered to look after their extra clothing. Those who agreed temporarily entrusted their belongings to me, knowing they could retrieve them later. Taking on the role of a mobile wardrobe, I carried, wore, arranged and performed with the collected garments, occasionally inviting other visitors to interact with them.
The performance unfolded through these informal exchanges, testing relationships of trust, participation and personal boundaries between strangers. The borrowed clothing became both the material of the performance and a means of initiating encounters with the festival audience.