Venari : this Latin root engendered the word “vénerie”: hunting in then noble, almost aristocratic connotation of the term. The base of this solo lies in relation between the ritualistic aspect of hunting as it is practised today in many Western countries, the Greek myth of Acteon – the hunter transformed into a deer by the Goddess Artemis and devoured by his own dogs – and the study of Georges Bataille on parietal painting. One of the earliest paintings in the world is that of a man with a deer’s face. According to Bataille, the very first paintings by man expressed both his fascination and his respect for the animal world and a certain reserve, perhaps even unease, about representing its own features, undoubtedly the consciousness that distanced him inexorably from this archaic world.

This solo resonates with Venus in furs, through the dance that does not reveal any face, through its description of an internal struggle between a man and his animal side and through the execution of this itself, but it also announces Aleko by the very fact that this death already bears almost human features.

Venari grew from Belgian plastic artist, Alexandra Mein’s contribution, which exacerbates both the aristocratic and savage aspects of this solo.