Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere

Out of the Blue

“Their approach is both documentary and spectacular, through a dramaturgy that is chiselled, ambitious, rigorous and very humble.”
La Libre Belgique, BE 20.05.22

"Dreamy theatre about a devilish dilemma."
Dagblad van het Noorden, NL 20.08.22

"An example of a poignant socially engaged show. Investigative journalism at its best."
Seestage, SL 26.08.22

"The brilliant form the artists have found, illuminate unknown territories both in the ocean and in ourselves, exposing a complexity that forces us to think."
Springback Magazine, EU 07.07.22

‘We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean.’ This statement is often heard when talking about the deep sea. Worldwide, only 10 percent of the ocean floor has been mapped and explored. At a moment in history when the planet we live on seems to have been explored extensively, some places remain unstudied and untouched.

After their acclaimed performances Mining Stories and Pleasant Island, Silke Huysmans and Hannes Dereere present the final part of their trilogy on mining. This time, they focus on a completely new industry: deep sea mining. With resources on land becoming increasingly scarce and overexploited, mining companies turn towards the ocean. In the spring of 2021, three ships gather on a remote patch of the Pacific Ocean. One of them belongs to the Belgian dredging company Deme-Gsr. Four kilometres below the sea surface, their mining robot is scraping the seabed in search of metals. On another ship, an international team of marine biologists and geologists keep a close watch on the operation. A third ship completes the fleet: on board of the infamous Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace activists protest against this potential future industry.

From their small apartment in Brussels, Silke and Hannes connect with the three ships through satellite. Each of the ships represents one pillar of the public debate: industry, science and activism. Through a series of interviews and conversations, an intimate portrait of this new industry emerges. The piece is an attempt to capture a potentially pivotal moment in the history of the earth. How much deeper can mining companies dig, and what are we as humankind actually digging towards? What are the challenges and risks? What opportunities potentially lay ahead?

By & with: Silke Huysmans & Hannes Dereere
Dramaturgy: Dries Douibi
Outside eye: Pol Heyvaert
Sound mixing: Lieven Dousselaere
Production: CAMPO
Coproduction: Beursschouwburg (Brussels), Bunker-Mladi Levi (Ljubljana), De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Noorderzon Festival (Groningen), PACT Zollverein (Essen), Théâtre de la Ville (Paris), Zürcher Theater Spektakel
Residencies: 30CC, Bara142 (Toestand), De Grote Post, GC De Markten, GC Felix Sohie, Kunstenwerkplaats, Pilar

Technique: Korneel Coessens, Piet Depoortere, Koen Goossens, Babette Poncelet
Subtitles and Dutch translation: Marika Ingels
French translation: Isabelle Grynberg
Thanks to: all conversations partners & the people who helped with the transcriptions
Special thanks to: John Childs, Henko De Stigter, Patricia Esquete, Iason-Zois Gazis, Jolien Goossens, Matthias Haeckel, An Lambrechts, Ted Nordhaus, Maureen Penjueli, Surabhi Ranganathan, Duygu Sevilgen, Joey Tau, Saskia Van Aalst, Kris Van Nijen, Vincent Van Quickenborne, Annemiek Vink