Necropolis is a performance that is a documentary and choreographic investigation that examines the concept of collective responsibility and focuses on commemorating the thousands of anonymous refugees who unfortunately failed to reach Europe safely.

Since 1993, UNITED for Intercultural Action, a network of hundreds of anti-racist organizations across Europe, has been compiling a list of the names of refugees and migrants who have died while trying to reach the continent. As of June 2022, the latest version of the list includes information on 48,647 reported deaths although the actual number is likely much higher as many deaths remain unreported. The list is long and it is striking that most cases remain unidentified.

Arkadi Zaides' performance, in collaboration with the artistic team, documents an invisible landscape that stretches in all directions in space and time and brings back to life that body of unidentified, anonymous bodies.

Concept & direction: Arkadi Zaides

Performers: Arkadi Zaides, Emma Gioia

This event is part of Celebrating Trouble. Choreographic Convention, october 4-8, a festival of shows, exhibitions and panel discussions with speakers and performers active on the international cultural scene.

Part of the European cooperation project Life Long Burning (LLB) – Futures Lost and Found (2023-2026), financed by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed, however, belong exclusively to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA can be held responsible for them.