Duo scenographer Shizuka Hariu and architect Shin Hagiwara from SHSH Architecture + Scenography designed the festival scenography for Compil d’Avril, held by Charleroi Danses at the previous sugar factory Raffinerie in Brussels.
At the Raffinerie, the industrial and enclosed space is deprived of a place where the public can gather together and enjoy performances. The challenge for this commission was to create the revival of space. It welcomes the excitement of the public in a suspended time between the ordinary moment in the street and the imaginary moment of the performances.
The scenography entitled ‘Spring Clouds’ is a refreshing space, ideal for the festival, which takes place in spring. A cotton candy like cloud structure set above the stage, which filtered the natural coloured light, along with the use of pink and white as the theme colours, the scenography perfectly imitated the feeling of spring. It detached the industrial site from its past and offered lightness to the festival.
The bar and furniture were constructed from wooden pallets. The use of natural untreated wood combined with the white space creates a pleasant harmony. Also, these materials are recyclable after the festival.
TV channel ARTE recorded a cultural program 50 Degrees North at Compil d’Avril in the ‘Spring Cloud’ scenography.
place : Raffinerie, Brussels, Belgium
artistic director: Pierre Droulers / Charleroi Danses
scenography : Shizuka Hariu & Shin Hagiwara / SHSH Architecture + Scenography
production : Charleroi Danses
performance : ZOO / Thomas Hauert, “Drum & Dance” and “Prepared play by ear” ; Michiyo Yagi with Eric Thielemans and Hugues Vincent, “Stings, Skins and other interesting things”; Eugène Savitzkaya, “Contre l’homme”
