The Anatomy Lesson – A Forensic Fairytale

In her performance The Anatomy Lesson the Belgian artist described the decay and reparation processes of the body in an unusual way. Her patient was a baby made of stitches. Crocheted and stitched together, the homunculus lies on the dissecting table, fitted with intestines, muscles and bones. With the aid of an endoscope Boulogne traveled through the human dummy, ever deeper into questions of life and death, beauty and liberation, searching for the divine in the material. Her role in this forensic fairytale switches from distanced surgeon to loving mother. Viewers of this interactive anatomy theatre witnessed a mythical cycle of death, birth and dying and a philosophical-artistic transgression of the most bizarre kind. (Hannah Hurtzig)

The Anatomy Lesson is the theatre performance of the project 'Excavations', an embroidery work of Eros and Thanatos, the result of an intense physical and mental exploration of boundaries. (Marijs Boulogne)

Text, concept, direction, embroidery and performance: Marijs Boulogne
Live video, endoscope and performance: Kaja Janjić
Technical support: Borut Bučinel

Production: Buelens Paulina vzw
Partners: Glej Theatre, City of Women - Association for the Promotion of Women in Culture 

Supported by Flemish Community, kindly sponsored by Storz Endoscope.