You describe your performance as a meditative experience. What can we expect from it?

mirabella paidamyowo dziruni: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. the atmosphere will allow you to go deep into your own perception of reality. you will be able to let go of expectations, breathe and maybe even face your own fears.
Hyeji Nam: you can expect to be in the space where you enter and can feel the different atmosphere, energy, as if you are entering a different timezone. It is not a show, or an entertainment, rather a collective experience.

How did your collaboration come about?

mirabella paidamyoao dziruni: Hyeji and myself have seen each others work evolve over the past 5 years. we’ve established a friendship and felt that working together could be a good thing. our works revolve around similar topics, such as social taboos, living in a female body, different ethnical and cultural backgrounds, individuality. both of us have an abstract way of expressing our thoughts. we use different medias, such as poetry, movement, sculpture, painting, music, installation and performance to express our art.

Hyeji Nam: We had been talking about collaboration since we first met, always knew we were the kind of people who would be up for whatever I would come up with. For few years we were supporting each others work and giving feedbacks on it and then the chance came for us to collaborate in HUGGY BEARS.

If you had to describe your performance with one word, what would it be and why?

mirabella paidamyowo dziruni: ZEN-SITIVE, because it about finding the Zen within oneself, and reacting to it and others in a sensitive way.

Hyeji Nam: it would be, spiritual. That is the real essence of what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve in life and in art, even though our artistic practices differ to each other. It is the most important aspect in living.

Your piece is part of the HUGGY BEARS mentoring program. How was it for you to have this support for a year?

mirabella paidamyowo dziruni: It was great that through HuggyBears we got the to perform at Imagetanz from Brut, and introduce ourselves to the performance-scene of Vienna. However we are a very special group of artist, from various intersectional backgrounds, which means we have needs that differ from the know Austrian performance-scene. It is frustrating, to be invited to various tables, but not be heard when we speak.
Representation matters and 2020 has shown us, that systematic change is necessary. This change starts from within, everyone of us can do the work, to be more sensitive to their surrounding. This will allow, a group of independent, individual, intersectional artist like ourselves, to feel welcome, heard & valid at any given moment. Vienna is a difficult city for people like us, its a place that depresses and frustrates. The prejudices and comments are still very hurtful and unreflected. As well at HUGGY BEARS, we experienced this sort of inequality. Our art and way of living invites everyone to be part and feel important. Important just the way you
are. We are.

Hyeji Nam: I am very thankful that we had a chance to be shown with the help of HUGGY BEARS, to be able to make ourselves grow, to be able to have contacts with other artists from different fields for sure. Of course the corona situation changed a lot of things for me personally, and it would have been different if there were no corona situation, so it is a bit tricky to say. The mentoring was nice but also realized that one has to find their own mentors. One realizes it is never ending of learning and changing. That is what I am realizing.