»Bodies Craving to Believe« brings together six visionary artists whose work interrogates the body as a site of emotional intensity, queer agency, and radical hope. Through original performances, the festival invites audiences to witness corporeality not merely as form, but as force — a medium through which longing, belief, and transformation are made visible.

Curated by tranzit.cz and the Biennale Matter of Art in collaboration with Čistírna1906, the programme features Miriama Kardošová, Dominik Styk, eva susová, Aliza Orlan, Skjold Rambow & CTM, and Alex Franz Zehetbauer — each contributing a distinct artistic language to this shared exploration.

We can forget about the body until it begins to ache, leak, or burst into laughter.

The programme explores corporeality as a source of transformation and hope through queer experience. Rather than viewing the body as a tool of production, it presents it as an autonomous medium that deconstructs ingrained norms. Through movement, sound, desire, and bodily expressions (including taboo ones), the artists challenge rigid social expectations and open space for authentic self-determination. The wastewater treatment plant serves as a metaphor for re-evaluating what is considered pure or impure. In an anxious world, the body becomes both an obstacle and a tool of faith—and art offers a possibility of temporary awakening through embracing its full complexity.

Aliza Orlan opens the festival with the installation and performance »thorns grow out of my body.« This intimate work, inspired by fairy-tale and pop-culture images of femininity, explores queer bodily experience and the transcending of gender boundaries. Dominik Styk presents the absurd dance burlesque »Pissed Prophet.« Through personifications of a bladder and a fish, he connects physiological body processes with their anthropological interpretations. Skjold Rambow & CTM create a dialogue between contemporary dance and cello in their project »Bow,« focusing on subtle shifts in posture and behavior. Miriama Kardošová, as Victoria Oren, premieres the performance »Shake my hair over the dirt we sweat off.« She confronts patriarchal expectations and stereotypes through living, hysterical euphoria. Alex Franz Zehetbauer presents the Czech premiere of his queer stand-up show »sixsixsix.« In the role of a jester, he embodies repressed and uncontrollable aspects of corporeality. eva susova & Publik Universal Frxnd close the festival with a »queer assemblage.« They combine breath, laughter, spoken word, and cello to explore the relationship between embodied knowledge and systems of power.

Curator: František Fekete
Venue: Čistírna1906, Papírenská 199/6, Prague 6, 160 00

Header image: Alex Franz Zehetbauer. Photo: Daniel Kindler