Joachim Koester's internationally acclaimed filmTarantism (2007), shot in a studio in Brussels on a black and white 16 mm film, documents the contemporary re-enactment of the historical phenomenon of the tarantella.
Emerging in the Middle Ages in Salento, a then-impoverished, rural community in south-eastern Italy, the tarantella was a ritualistic dance through which victims of tarantula bite would attempted to exorcise the spider's poison. Victims would move, to a band of percussionists, in a frenzied, trance-like state often for days on end. Tarantism is the outcome of Koester's research into the phenomenon and history of the tarantella which, despite its origins in peasantry, was at some point practiced by doctors and nobility, and even, for a time, accepted by the Catholic Church. Koester's main interest lies in the cathartic, empowering function of the tarantella. Through their convulsive movements, individually choreographed dancers appear to liberate themselves from self-control, accessing unconscious dimensions. Tarantism explores the language of the human body and the boundaries of rationality. For audiences, the film installation offers a mesmerising visual and aural experience.
Curated by Bala Starr.
About the artist
New York-based artist Joachim Koester was born in Copenhagen in 1962 and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Art. Koester has held over fifty solo exhibitions in Europe, South America, Asia, the US and the UK. He has presented projects at major international art museums and events including the 51st Venice Biennale (2005) and documenta X in Kassel (1997), and has participated in exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Tate Britain, London, and MIT List Visual Art Center, Boston among others. In twenty years of artistic practice Koester has re-enacted and represented unorthodox figures, narratives, cults and pre-scientific knowledge through photography, film and text.
Joachim Koester, Tarantism 2007, 16 mm black and white film installation, duration: 6:31 minutes, edition of 5 with 2 artist's proofs. © Courtesy the artist and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen.
Joachim Koester, Tarantism 2007, 16 mm black and white film installation, duration: 6:31 minutes, edition of 5 with 2 artist's proofs. © Courtesy the artist and Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen.
Joachim Koester, Tarantism, Potter Museum of Art, installation view. Photograph: Viki Petherbridge.