The Annunciation or Annunciation of Mary is the biblical scene in which the archangel Gabriel announces to Mary her immaculate conception and her chosen role as mother of God. The scene is described with variations in various gospels and in the Koran. Since the Middle Ages, almost all the great masters and countless unknown painters have depicted Annunciations. In The Annunciation, Alice connects this scene – which, as the foundation of Christianity, has had a strong influence on Western culture and politics – with termination of pregnancy.

During her residency at BUDA, Alice will continue to work on a contemporary Annunciation in the form of a performance. She takes iconography from the Middle Ages to the present day as inspiration for choreographic material and rewrites the scene as a myth about a critical, irreversible moment, and a parable that can take place in our bodies.

Alice Van der Wielen-Honinckx (BE)

Alice Van der Wielen-Honinckx works in the field of contemporary dance and performance as a maker, performer, and dramaturge. She studied Western Literature and Sciences of Literature at KULeuven, Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy at Utrecht University, and is a certified Fascia Practitioner. Alice works with choreography, text, and somatic techniques to create slow spaces: space-atmospheres where a heightened sensorial experience offers rest from the alienating effects of our culture of haste. She is currently investigating how these slow atmospheres provide a caring space where subjects like childbirth, abortion, miscarriage, and reproduction technology are addressed.