The performance Bang Bang Baroque (2023) is a hyper-glitch opera for seven characters that draws inspiration from a variety of sources, including protest techniques, psychoanalytical theories, heavy metal headbanging, and Baroque caricatures. Original graphite drawings were translated into large inflatable sculptures made from parachute nylon to be worn by performers who, moving amidst the guests, oscillate between psychological and material concepts of subject and object. The physical actions of the performers range from “soft head-banging” to a repertoire of traditional gestures from baroque opera and contemporary mannerisms of etiquette.

During this one-week residency, Emma Waltraud Howes, along with three collaborators, will adapt a version of the performance Bang Bang Baroque specifically to the Musée d’art de Joliette’s spaces. The film version of this piece (Bang Bang Baroque, 2024) will premiere in Howes’ solo exhibition The Time it Takes.

With the kind support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.