We No Longer Have to
installation at MS Dauerwelle
2026 Bremen, Germany
There is something profound in transforming the intention behind this object. It is no longer a simple rope, but a symbolic and poetic presence carrying multiple layers of meaning, like its own body: many layers of material that enable it to survive in the harsh environment of the ports. Through it, fragments of reality become recognisable, and in that recognition, the rope is brought to life.
The rope cannot be understood through the mind alone. It asks another kind of approach, one that emerges through the body; quieter, older, and perhaps wiser. It asks to be felt rather than explained, because its teaching is a return to the body through physical effort, making us aware of the vehicle made of flash that we inhabit.
Its length is equally significant. It can only be carried by many bodies at once, teaching those bodies that what appears impossible individually becomes possible collectively just by connecting the bodies together. In doing so, it also reminds us of the value of those who carry life alongside us. In migration, that support is not always found in our biological families. More often, it is found in those who choose to stay in the path, to accompany us, and to hold us when we cannot hold ourselves
Following the performance, the harbour rope remained inside the boat, spread across its interior. Once used to carry and secure cargo ships, the rope had undergone a transformation: from an object of function and weight into a collective and symbolic body.
Released from the act of being carried, it now occupied the space differently. Its immense length extended through the boat, creating a physical trace of the journey and of the bodies that had carried it. The installation preserved the rope as a material witness to the performance, holding within its folds and weight the memory of a shared experience.
The rope was no longer simply an object to be moved from one place to another. Within the boat, it became a presence and an accumulation of histories, encounters, burdens, and relationships that could no longer be separated from the experience of carrying them together.