C A R M E N L A F R A N
Butoh Artist
bio
Carmen Lafran is a Berlin-based interdisciplinary performance artist, butoh dancer, choreographer, movement and philosophy researcher, investigating art in its relationship with philosophical discourses and the body.
Lafran works as soloist and in collaboration with artists from different artistic fields, performing on theatre stages, galleries as well as in the underground art scene´s venues in Europe. As a soloist they have been featured among others at Venice International Performance Art Week, Project ID The Hague, Istanbul Performance Art and Carbon Residency Kiev.
Lafran’s fields of work span from grotesque performative acts and butoh dance-theatre to rituals, poetry, painting and installations. Their works combine visionary perspectives with the critical reflection and denunciation of socio-political realities.
Since their master graduation in philosophy the main topic of investigation has been the relationship between philosophical discourse and the body as indefinable force, irreducible to the logos. Investigating the assembled and manipulable nature of identity, body's reminiscences and ways to subvert the constraining normative logic, their research aims to decolonize the body from political and social control and abuse, celebrating the erosion of patriarchal power relations and repressive subjectivation.
Currently teaching Performativity at the University of Europe for Applied Sciences in Berlin, Lafran is also hosting workshops and curating performance projects with international artists.