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Conjuring the Threshold is a 10-minute performance that symbolically repairs a rupture, an obstructed passage. Through a minimalist and precise gesture, the artist transforms an administrative border into a poetic threshold, questioning the limits on our freedom of movement.
This performance will be presented on July 7, 2025, as part of the Performing Space event in Nafplio, Greece.
The site of the denied crossing, translated into two forms. Above, the map view of the border bridge over the Maritsa River. Below, the raw GPS data of the same path, the digital trace of the rupture that this performance seeks to repair.
The origin of this performance lies in a real experience lived by the artist. On July 2, 2022, during his 5,232 km performative walk Ex-tracés, Ridha Dhib reached the Greek-Turkish border. On the bridge separating Phères from İpsala, he was confronted with a prohibition: the crossing was reserved for motorized vehicles. He was forced to interrupt his walk for a distance of 100 meters.
This interruption, this breach in the continuous thread of the walk, is the wound that Conjuring the Threshold seeks to heal. The performance is not a simple representation, but a symbolic act of repair, a reappropriation of the body over a space that was denied to it.
The initial protocol, conceived as a "red line on the ground", has evolved to be embodied in a more meaningful material, transforming the line into a true suture.
The Border-Line: The border is materialized by a 10 cm wide crepe bandage, 8 meters long (the estimated width of the bridge). Dyed with medical eosin, it bears a bright red color, suggesting both blood and care. The line is not continuous: it is composed of four rolls (unstretched length), connected by three knots. These junction points, visible scars on the line, emphasize the fragmented nature of territory and the need for a repeated gesture to connect it.
The Body and the Objects: The artist moves slowly, holding his smartphone from which the voice emerges, and his walking stick, a witness to the original journey. The crossing of the bandage-line occurs at the precise moment the voice pronounces the central coordinates of the border, creating a kairos: a perfect convergence of place, time, and the body.
The Sonic Beacon: The soundscape emanates from a small, visible red speaker attached to the artist's hip. The performer's body thus becomes the physical source for the border's digital data. The red of the speaker echoes the red of the suture-line, connecting the sound of the border to the gesture of its repair.
The Material Scar: The 8-meter suture-line is composed of four sections of crepe bandage joined together. This close-up reveals the texture of this "scar"—a testament to the material, and necessarily imperfect, nature of any act of healing and repair.
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The Choreography: From Constraint to Liberation
The Choreography: From Constraint to Liberation
The performance's narrative is embodied in a precise three-act choreography:
1. The Approach of Constraint: The artist walks towards the "suture-line" not directly, but in a tight, accordion-like zigzag. This constrained movement physically evokes the managed and controlled flow of bodies in airports and other institutional spaces.
2. The Kairos of Crossing: Upon reaching the line, a 20-second silence occurs in the soundscape. At the precise moment the synthetic voice pronounces the central coordinates of the border—a "kairos" or opportune moment—the artist crosses the line.
3. The Gesture of Liberation: Once across, the artist lets go of his walking stick, a witness to the original journey that is no longer needed. He then walks away in a straight, resolute line, a physical manifestation of a reclaimed and unhindered freedom of movement.
The Martiste's Gaze: The Suture-Line in Augmented Reality
This image captures the artist's point of view during the installation. Taken through the augmented reality compass application – his visual signature since 2018 – it superimposes two realities: the physical and organic trace of the red 'Suture-Line' laid on the garden soil, and the digital interface of navigational data (azimuth, speed, target). It is the materialization of the martiste's approach: a body that surveys the world while reading and inscribing it through the prism of technology.
Certification
This performance was officially presented as part of Performing Space 2025, held in Nafplio, Greece, from July 4 to 7, 2025. The event was organized by the University of the Peloponnese in collaboration with the Performing Space Association.
Technical Sheet
Title: Conjuring the Threshold
Artist: Ridha Dhib
Date: July 7, 2025
Location: Performing Space 2025, 25is Martiou 6, Nafplio 211 00, Grèce
Estimated Duration: Approx. 7 to 8 minutes (entire action, adaptable)
Dispositif: An 8-meter line made of crepe bandage dyed with eosin, a soundscape of GPS coordinates, one performer, a smartphone, a walking stick.
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