The Mitochondrial Eve
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| free admission |
| 6 years and older |
| English |
| Foyer, Treppenhalle, 3. OG |
| Belongs to: Given or Chosen? |
“Mitochondrial Eve” is referred to in research conducted in the Global North as the most recent common female ancestor of all people alive today. She lived an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 years ago, presumably in Ethiopia. Through her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed down exclusively from mother to child, she is genetically connected to all humans living today.
At the Humboldt Forum, surrounded by the gazes of the ancestral gallery of the electors and the recently AI-generated electresses on the 3rd floor, the Philippine-born, Denmark-based artist Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen unfolds her performance on motherhood, freedom of choice, and the physical and emotional engagement with babies and children. Wearing a white, sculptural costume – inspired by Kai Nielsen’s sculpture Mother of Water and overgrown with baby figures – accompanied by Vojta Drnek’s accordion as well as text and interactive moments, she reveals how children lay claim to, demand from, and shape the mother’s body – and how ambivalence, exhaustion, closeness, and self-determination intertwine within this dynamic.
The performance invites the audience to experience the intimacy and power of care: from offering one’s own body, to motherhood in the animal world, shared rituals, and moments in which “not being a mother” is also given space. Here, private bodily experience encounters the historical gaze of sculptures depicting women and men from ruling families of the former Berlin palace – a reflection on closeness, responsibility, freedom of choice, and the cycle of life.
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen says in her performance:
“Sometimes I am nothing – sometimes I am everything
A bouncing ball – a solid wall
Invisible – responsible
A Swiss Army knife – no sex life
A scapegoat – a lifeboat
An organiser – a geisha
Sometimes I am nothing – sometimes I am everything.”
A sensual and contemplative work that makes motherhood tangible in all its facets – between physical presence, emotional intensity, and dialogue with history and the public.
Participants
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen (born 1970 in Manila) is a Danish/Philippine internationally acclaimed performance artist, who has presented exhibitions and performances internationally. Her practice is based on performance art, which she also translates into different materials and media such as video, photography, sculpture and installations.
She has exhibited and performed at KIASMA Art Museum, Helsinki, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Tate Modern, London, Performa (performance
festival), New York, Venice Biennale, Thessaloniki biennale, Busan Biennale, The Drawing Room Manila, Röda Sten, Gothenburg, AROS Art Museum, Aarhus, National Gallery, Singapore, in Copenhagen: SMK/National Gallery Denmark, Nikolaj Kunsthal, and Copenhagen Contemporary.
Cuenca’s productions involve the body, scripted texts, songs, composed music, as well as intricate visual elements such as costumes that function as set design. She gathers, adapts, and universalizes her narratives with both a critical and humorous approach to issues such as identity, culture, religion, gender and social relations.
Vojta Drnek is a Czech jazz accordionist known for pushing the expressive boundaries of his instrument. Praised for his versatility and rich harmonic sensitivity, he leads the acclaimed chamber jazz trio Treetop and brings the accordion’s unexplored sonic possibilities into contemporary music. He has performed at major festivals such as Jazzfest Berlin and JazzFest Brno, and at venues including Jazz Dock, Opus Jazz Club, and Donau115.
A lifelong accordionist, Drnek holds a Master’s degree from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts with additional studies at the Anton Bruckner Privatuniversität. His collaborations include work with John Hollenbeck, Phil Donkin, Aidin Esen, and others across orchestral and theater settings. He is also co‑founder of Ma Records and contributes to Jazz Goes to Town and Heartcore Records.