MATRILINEAL: An Interdisciplinary Performance

NYC Premiere at HERE Arts Center: August 7th, 8th, + 9th at 7pm

MATRILINEAL is an autobiographical interdisciplinary work by performance artist Rachael Mauney (they/them) and singer/sound designer Telmo Branco (they/them) to examine domestic violence in heteronormative family lineages.

This work addresses the oppressive mentality which enables this abusive cycle to continue, as well as the hopeful revolution of emancipation.

The heteronormative concept of “woman” involves a type of resilience that thrives in alienation, silence, and delusion. It is yet another example of the way the gender binary is used to oppress, in this specific case within the patriarchal institution of family.

MATRILINEAL reflects on the aftermath of domestic violence and the cycle which is exhumed in each generation, while proposing the abolition of heteronormative family values as a conduit of liberation.

This project premiered in Berlin in Janurary 2022, and was supported by Bundesregierung für Kulturen und Medien/Neustart KULTUR DISTANZEN Solo, Initiative Luna Park, Cie. Olga Roriz, Polo Cultural das Gaivotas, and #share AckerStadt Palast.

MATRILINEAL´s NYC premiere has been supported in part by the Goethe Institute.

Photo credit: Alicja Hoppel