When the Water loves the Fire
(2022)

From time to time I work at the ticket office of the Natural History Museum in Basel.
I combined my love for the building with my personal exploration of love. I wanted to
see how adding a filter of love would affect our exploration of the human perspective on
nature in a house of natural sciences. The performance ‚When the Water Loves Fire‘ is a
philosophical tour developed in collaboration with museum staff, scientists and artists.
The tour consists of several stations where the audience is guided through the museum.
We worked with Anne Kissmann and Ayaka Gütlin to create a tour of the Natural History
Museum. We incorporated their strengths into the programme based on their work in the
museum and allowed them to perform in their familiar environment.
During the tour, Tamás Vásárhelyi played the violin with the notes of Marc-Antoine Char-
pentier‘s Te Deum, while Samuel Grand wore the horse‘s skull from Arnold Böcklin‘s Apol-
lon fresco and read from Bell Hooks‘ All About Love. The work strongly reflects a personal
love story and the influence of the literature of Bell Hooks and Elif Shafak.
The work was presented on a Sunday evening in June 2022. There were two guided tours,
each lasting approximately 45 minutes.