Matière grise is a piece for three performers and a scale model of a volcanic landscape, some elements of which are edible. This situation is part of the Cinéma Catastrophe project, a field of research and creation that hosts a series of performances working the relationship between the body, matter, time and perception. Currently approaching the final stage of its creation process, Mariana Viana, Daniel Lühmann en Anat Bosak will be in residence at BUDA to continue developing the work and carry out some technical trials.

From an internal perspective, Matière grise begins twenty-seven hours after a buffalo has pierced the roof and fallen abruptly into the middle of the stage—though this is not revealed to the audience. What they encounter instead are three performers gathered around this landscape, engaged in a slow, continuous action shaped by deviations, events, accidents. By placing the abyssal slowness of geological time in tension with the fleeting complexity of human time, Matière grise engages with the microscopic dimension of gesture and attention. The dramaturgy unfolds from a raw landscape—both mineral and organic—undergoing constant transformation/deformation.

Mariana Viana (BR/FR)

Mariana Viana is a choreographer and performer. Her practice is rooted in the field of dance, within a transdisciplinary perspective – visual arts, scenography, documentation, and writing all contribute to the articulation of fictional realities within her creative processes. Born in Brazil, she lived for some years in Portugal and, since 2019, has been living and working in Montpellier, where she is dedicated, through the choreographic platform LAB-L, to collectively creating fertile conditions for artistic research.