trans—

Performance, approx. 30 minutes

Amsterdam, 2021

trans— is a solo performance by caner teker, created in 2021. The 30-minute piece is loopable and has been presented in both black box and white cube settings. Taking its name from the Latin prefix meaning through, across, and beyond, the work moves through three acts of movement-based scenarios drawn from Turkish wedding dances like Zeybek and the live playing of the gaida, a traditional bagpipe. Rather than stating an identity, trans— stages it as a series of crossings between biography and fiction, self-description and external projection, making the labor of cultural translation physically perceptible.

Previous presentations include Maxim Gorki Theater, Gessnerallee Zürich, Westfälischer Kunstverein Münster, Drifts Festival Helsinki, Schauspielhaus Hamburg, and CAPC Bordeaux. After touring in different contexts, trans— was further developed into (de)trans—, a later iteration that emerged from the work’s continued circulation and transformation.