Just Pray + X

The performances Just Pray by Claudia Valentina and X by Virgen are shown together in the La Salita hall as two contemporary rituals that explore the construction of identity in an age of constant exposure. Both pieces occupy the ambiguous space between the person and the character and ask how we perceive ourselves while we are being perceived, desired and judged by others.

From two different yet complementary places, the artists open portals to what is intimate and what is public. Just Pray speaks of image worship and social networks as a new, modern religion. Impeccable hair, perfect makeup and trending bodies are held as commandments that require sacrifice. Through rituals broadcast live (a live Instagram feed video filmed onstage), the performance reveals the physical and emotional cost of regarding oneself as perfect, while pointing out the power and violence behind the perception of reality through digital media.

X is an audio-visual show that invites us to embark on a journey into one’s inner world. Through music, the body, and the image, a portal opens, revealing that which usually remains hidden: the unknown, the prohibited, the problematic. But it also reveals the explicit, the desired, the impulsive and the squalid that exist inside us. This show presents the artist’s first album and, at the same time, an act of intimate exposure that penetrates various layers, crossing through emotions and experiences.

Both pieces address the concept of the body as political and emotional territory subjected to endless struggles between desire, control and exposure. The stage is transformed into a ritual space in which the intimate becomes collective, and the public is not only spectators but also an active part of the perception that constructs and consumes identities.

The artistic residency proposes a reflection on how we inhabit our own images, how we turn them into characters in order to survive, and what happens when we decide to reveal or shatter this artifice.

This residency for Canarian creators in the performing arts is organised in collaboration with the Laboratorio de Artes Vivas y Ciudadanía de Canarias (LAV-C), led by cultural administrator Beatriz Bello and artist Darío Bardam.