Hiwa K

Moon Calendar

Moon Calendar by Hiwa K documents the rehearsals for an unrealized performance at the infamous Amna Suraka, a former security headquarters and prison in northern Iraq that now hosts a museum documenting the human rights abuses perpetrated under Saddam Hussein’s rule. An active prison until 1991, many people, especially students, Kurdish nationalists, and other dissidents, were unlawfully imprisoned, tortured, and raped at Amna Suraka. In the short video, the artist tap-dances on the premises of the former jail to the rhythm of his own heartbeat, which he listens to through a stethoscope. With the increasing intensity of the dance, the speed of the artist’s feet and his heart rate lose simultaneity, chasing each other in a beat and counter-beat. The rhythm of his heart isolates the artist from his surroundings, creating a private space for his own thoughts. The titular reference to the lunar calendar allows for an alternative understanding of the passing of time, triggering a shift in the perception of events that have taken place in this space. The ludic dimension of the dance renders former trauma absent, while maintaining presence in this place of immeasurable violence. By focusing on the rhythmic dimension of the movement and the beat, the film generates a semantic slippage that allows for a reflection on time, temporality, and transformation.