The Concocted Life Stories of Ruth-Johanne Andersson is a four part lecture-performance in development investigating what makes Israelis not see the Other. The series is based on a decade of research into the ‘dark corners’ of Israeli society, testing in what ways the art of telling concocted stories can reveal what creates and sustains Israeli solipsism; pushing people towards the political right way before October the 7th. This will be reflected in looking at three spectrums that define choreographies of thought in Israeli society as well as reflecting on why we need to learn from the craftsmanship of performers to help mitigate division in societies of great conflict.
Every Wednesday of the week, during the four weeks of the residency, one part of the lecture-performance will be shown. The four parts follow a chronology, but can be viewed individually. Feel free to join them all or just one or two. Each showing will be followed by an open conversation with the artist.
WEEK 1: The Settler-Homeless spectrum 29.10.2025 at 19:00
In 2014 as I embarked on a research of the Israeli society, I encountered different notions of belonging – performative and non-performative. I ‘abandoned’ the art school and went out on the streets of Jerusalem to meet a messy reality of segregation and internal competition.
WEEK 2: The Idealist-Anarchist spectrum 5.11.2025 at 17:00
From 2016 – 2022 as my at the time boyfriend J, went through a political radicalization that slowly got him caught up in the Netanyahu cult following, I saw how his choreography of thought narrowed. In search for the good society, J, like many other Israelis, got seduced by idealism.
WEEK 3: The Religious-Atheist spectrum 12.11.2025 at 19:00
In 2023 as I began my conversion process to Judaism, the mechanisms of segregation and idealism had laid the ultimate ground work for accelerating ethnic cleansing and genocide as Israel reacted to the 7th of October attacks – Palestinian reality was silenced, as Israelis held on to theirs religiously.
WEEK 4: Why we need Performers 19.11.2025 at 19:00
Performers think through experiences of transformation. The visceral and cognitive challenge embedded in becoming Other, informs her with more realistic ideas of potential change, making theoretical contemplation secondary as she gets connected to a complexity of humanity.
Ruth-Johanne Andersson (1989) is a performer and activist, working with and thinking through an investigative approach to performance. She uses her craftsmanship for social research and choreographic thinking. Educated from The School of Visual Theatre in Jerusalem, she has lived in Israel/Palestine for the past 15 years. She holds a MA in Social Science from The Hebrew University and part-takes in the organization of the Performing Arts Forum (PAF) in France.
The Concocted Life Stories of Ruth-Johanne Andersson is her first work developed for the stage.
