Showing the Making

Pepper’s Ghost: Silent Films & Choral Responses

Small theatre of illusion

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Location: Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, view access map
Prices and conditions


About the event

As part of The Centre for the Less Good Idea's residency at the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.

Named after John Henry Pepper who popularised it in 1862, the Pepper’s Ghost is a 19th-century theatrical illusion technique that uses a half-silvered mirror and lighting techniques to bring forth ghosts and apparitions on stage. The choreographer and composer Nhlanhla Mahlangu and vocalist and performer Anathi Conjwa will lead a collaborative process of sounding the archive. Working in the Pepper’s Ghost with Dikeledi Modubu, Asanda Hanabe, Sbusiso Shozi and Katlego Letsholonyana, the resultant exploration will see a combination of silent films from the 1930s « Archives de la Planète », Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, projected into the Pepper’s Ghost and how this theatrical device functions as an unmuting medium in the development of responsive choral and vocal elements.

Performers | Nhlanhla Mahlangu, Sbusiso Shozi, Anathi Conjwa, Dikeledi Modubu, Asanda Hanabe, Katlego Letsholonyana, Neo Muyanga & Marcus Neustetter
Footage | Courtesy of Collection « Archives de la Planète », Musée départemental Albert-Kahn, Département des Hauts-de-Seine
Footnoters | Bronwyn Lace, Julien Faure Conorton & Pélagie Gbaguidi


Practical information

Additional information

Estimated duration: 1h.
Doors open at 7pm.
Seated show, subject to availability.
English and French.
Shows begin at the time indicated: latecomers will only be allowed entry if this does not disturb the show.
This event will be filmed by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain teams for distribution on our digital communication platforms and those of third parties authorized by us. The audience may appear in the produced content. If a person appears in the produced content and wishes to be removed, please contact the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain at contact@fondation.cartier.com.

The Less Good Lounge
Documentation space Moments of Making (archives, documentary film and sound installation).
Bookshop space in collaboration with The Centre for the Less Good Idea and the Fondation Cartier.

Bar
Cafeteria Soré (African cuisine), open every day and evenings of performances.