Joshua Serafin

Based in Brussels, Joshua Serafin is a multifaceted multimedia artist whose work transcends the boundaries of various art forms. During Welcome To Our Guesthouse #7 we will witness their ongoing research performance VOID. In VOID we see the god(dess) Void on an island installation blending into its environment. Two light pillars that extend to the sky create a portal that connects the spiritual and mortal realms. Void converses with the soundscape and the ecological and meta-realm landscape surrounding them. Their dance creates a ritual of birth, and rebirth, collecting global sadness and its beauty. It is an embodiment of our current society.

In addition, Joshua will start their research for PEARLS – the third and final piece of their Cosmological Gangbang, which seeks to create new forms of rituals for queer bodies and the ecologies they inhabit. In the final stages of the creation, Joshua works together with their collaborators in the Philippines Lukresia Quismundo and Bunny Cadag. Through live performance, they embody a contemporary ritual inspired by the nonnormative genders celebrated in the Philippine archipelago prior to the empire.  

Their artistic approach is characterized by combining video, text, sound, and design with a strong emphasis on the performing body and choreography. They delve into questions about identity, transmigration, queer politics, representation, and ways of embodiment. Their works create new forms of rituals and embodiment, rooted deeply in an intense sociological exorcism of Filipino identity in relation to global ideologies. Their superpower is empathy, and they strongly believe in sharing this gift with others. 

PEARLS is a coproduction with Caravan Productions vzw (BE) and will premiere in February 2024 in NTGent. PEARLS will be part of Feeling Curious? Festival, the international performance art festival of Theater Rotterdam.