FIFTH EDITION
70 YEARS OF THE MODERNO – 7 WEEKS OF “EL BORDE DE SÍ MISMO” [‘THE EDGE OF ITSELF’]
MANIFESTO
1
The poem stands fast at the edge of itself,
it calls and brings itself, in order to persist,
incessantly, from its already-no-longer to its always-still.
Paul Celan
Paul Celan’s essay ‘The Meridian’ [‘Der Meridian’] was his 1960 acceptance speech for the Georg Büchner Prize. In the speech, he read Büchner’s work not as something separate from his own, but rather as if it were his own. Celan, the poet – from the edge of himself – read Büchner, the playwright. His reflections on poetry broadened the horizon for today’s readers (and for those who heard that speech, delivered on 22 October 1960 in the city of Darmstadt, Germany): we no longer speak of poetry, but of the poem. This way of naming things – this renaming of the form – allows us to go beyond poetry: the poem, thus, encompasses all forms of artistic expression.
The aim of this cycle is to read another’s poem as if it were one’s own.
2
The visual arts, from the edge of themselves, read theatre; and theatre, from the edge of itself, reads art. From one’s own self, within one’s own limits, another territory can be perceived: one to be explored, examined and tested.
This cycle thus sets out to explore – from the edge of itself – territories that would appear to be unrelated: uncharted, unexplored spaces that can be perceived through personal experience.
3
Experience is a dim lamp, which only lights the one who bears it.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Sharing the experience, the time, the process, the construction of a play: to imagine what has, as of yet, no form; to permit errors and encourage failures; and to co-exist with the audience in a space and time that is usually hidden from the public.
The audience’s experience will, with luck, guide the development of the play.
This cycle invites the audience to be part of it.
This cycle invites the artist to peer over the edge and look the audience in the eye.
4
Let time slow down, let go of the quest for results: surrender to the passage of time and to its scent.
Let the play find its own course, and let the audience be part of that course, shaping it, constructing a shared sense of time together with the play.
Let shared experience hold sway.
Imagine yourself as more than just ephemeral.
Stop relying solely on yourself. Then, the play and the audience will find each other. And come together.
From the very edge of myself, I can sense there is something beyond me.
This cycle has inspired these words.
5
That in the hesitating interval, in the darkness,
there will be something for us to hold on to.
Friedrich Hölderlin
(…)
Alejandro Tantanian
Concept and curator: Alejandro Tantanian
Participating artists: Elba Bairon, Grupo BESA, Manuel Hermelo, Cervio Martini, Ópera Periférica (Pablo Foladori & Gerardo Cardozo), Antonio Villa
FROM 11 JUNE TO 26 JULY
FROM JUNE 11 TO JULY 26 REGULAR SHOWS: FRIDAYS 7 PM ($7000) SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS 4 PM AND 6 PM ($10000)
WEEK 1 - Thursday 11 Friday 12 June to Sunday 14 June 2026
Antonio Villa
Cancionero [Songbook]
Cancionero [Songbook] is a solo recital that revisits the popular Latin American song repertoire of the 1970s. At the same time, it is an installation that combines instrument-making, live performance, sound processors and voices.
‘From the sordidness and paralysis of our own times, we return to singing the songs by those women who envisioned a future full of possibilities, and who turned politics into poetry. We are southerners: we see our mountain burning, we smell the smoke, we walk through the scorched forests. To that that will not return, we sing. We invoke its strength. We may be guilty of being melancholic or pessimistic; no matter, we are here and we believe it is the perfect time to gather together and sing’,
Performer: Tomás Deías Spreng
Offstage musician: Nicolás Gulluni
Musical direction: Nicolás Gulluni
Luthier: Julio Calvo
Lighting: Jésica Montes de Oca
Costumes: Andrea Romero
Director: Antonio Villa
Duration: 45 min
Warning: This work contains images that may be offensive to some viewers. Recommended for those aged 16 and over. Children must be accompanied by an adult. The work features strobe lighting and intense visual effects that may affect those who are sensitive to light.
Antonio Villa (Esquel, 1988 – resides in Buenos Aires) is a visual artist, playwright and cultural manager. He graduated as a Playwright from the Escuela Metropolitana de Arte Dramático (EMAD) and took part in the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella’s Artist’s Programme as well as the Centro de Investigaciones Artísticas’ Agent Programme (2018).
He published a collection of poems titled Teatra (Buenos Aires: Desde un tacho, 2016), and the play Paz (Buenos Aires: Libros Drama, 2021). As a visual artist, he has participated in exhibitions at public institutions and in independent spaces. He received an Honourable Mention at the 9th Rozenmacher Prize for New Drama, the Best Play Award at arteBA 2019, the 2021 City of Buenos Aires Arts Week Award, and the Grand Acquisition Prize at the 100th National Salon of the Museo Rosa Galisteo (Santa Fe, 2023).
In 2022, he made his debut as a playwright and director with Chongo triste, commissioned by the Teatro Nacional Cervantes. His play, Paz, is now showing, starring Laura Paredes. He is curator of the Gallinero collection, part of Rara Avis Editorial, and co-director of Constitución Galería.
WEEK 2 - Friday 19 June to Sunday 21 June 2026
Grupo BESA
Primera palabra [First Word]
‘My mother talks about her mother and I feel as if she is talking about herself. My mother becomes beautiful, and that moment feels like a fourth dimension of life. My mother is my mother, and yet she is also someone else’s mother; she is a thousand different mothers. My mothers dance, act, play, laugh, shine and tell stories. My mothers break new ground.’
Created by: Grupo BESA
Performers: Marcela Gros, Magdalena Gros, Felipe Danani, Mariana Danani, Casandra Castro, Mirna Castro, Graciela Suen, Max Suen, Victoria Fernández, Tomas Fernández, Marcela Fernández, Eva Hegui
Sound design: Magdalena Gros
Lighting design: Casandra Castro and Felipe Danani
Set design: Felipe Danani and Eva Hegui
Director: Tomas Fernández
Duration: 75 min
Suitable for all audiences
BESA is a group dedicated to theatrical exploration. Since 2020, the group has been exploring the creation of works that bring together multidisciplinary approaches and aesthetic languages to build narratives that unfold, fold back on themselves, transform and move through various stages, from sound to visual art and performance.
In 2022, the group debuted Breve enciclopedia sobre la amistad [A Brief Encyclopaedia of Friendship]. Since then, BESA has participated in many programmes and festivals throughout Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
The group staged its most recent work, Parque Nacional [National Park], in 2025. It is the culmination of a central theme in BESA’s explorations: prioritising the process over the result, and the time spent in the search over the final product. The aim is to adopt an approach that fosters collaboration between all areas of the company – direction, playwriting and production, among others – and to promote a continuous creative flow that keeps its artistic essence alive.
WEEK 3 - Friday 26 June to Sunday 28 June 2026
Manuel Hermelo
Los párpados son pies que bailan con la luz [Eyelids Are Feet That Dance with the Light]
‘Memories of an amateur artist.
There are sketches beneath things.
Mindless shadows repeat
nature’s forms precisely.
A drawing that no one saw.
A poem that no one heard.
What do we know when we do not know?
Performers: Estela Fernández Beret, Hoco Huoc and Manuel Hermelo
Lighting design: Jorge Pastorino
Production and Stage Management: Natalia Chami
Sound Emma Dupuy
Video Ari Nahón
This work originated from Yo y Ello [Me and It], an exhibition of drawings curated by Karina Peisajovich and Bruno Dubner, and held at 13 Bazar Kiosco Taller.
Acknowledgements: Teresa Arijón, Alfredo Visciglio, Quique Calissano y Marcela Hermelo.
This is a collaborative project.
Concept and direction: Manuel Hermelo
Duration: between 35 and 40 mins
Warning: The work features strobe lighting and intense visual effects that may affect those who are sensitive to light.
Manuel Hermelo is an actor, director and sociologist. He co-founded and directed La Organización Negra, an influential collective in the experimental scene of the 1980s, producing works such as Uorc, La tirolesa, Argumento and Almas examinadas, which also staged in Brazil, Mexico, Germany, France and Denmark.
Since then, he has developed a practice that bridges theatre, performance, writing and drawing, in individual and collective projects such as La línea histórica, Nifoleptos, El hueso del espíritu, La historia de T. as well as in the publications of Pato en la Cara. He is the author of El hombre tela, a chronicle written during the pandemic. He recently presented Yo y Ello, an exhibition of drawings. La Organización Negra’s work has been shown at the Museo Moderno and is currently part of an exhibition in Venice. His forthcoming book of poetry is titled La tostada inteligente (TI).
WEEK 4 - Friday 3 to Sunday 5 July 2026
Elba Bairon
S/T
En esta performance, una saxofonista interpreta diversos temas que acompañan la acción de un bailarín, quien transita la sala realizando la postura vertical, acompasada por el tiempo de la respiración.
Intérprete: Valentín Caringella
Música: María Luz Faura
Asistente de dirección: Carolina Castagnola
Dirección: Elba Bairon
Duración: 20 min
Suitable for all audiences
Elba Bairon was born in 1947 in La Paz, Bolivia.
She studied drawing at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Montevideo and Chinese painting at the National Library. In 1970, she made a permanent move to Buenos Aires, where she studied engraving and lithography at Alfredo de Vicenzo’s studio. At the same time, she began creating the scenery and costumes for the plays written by the playwright Emeterio Cerro. In 1996, she began to work in relief and with volume, as well as creating objects using paper pulp and plaster. Two years later, she was awarded a grant from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes, which allowed her to begin working on large scale plaster sculptures.
She has also participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions.
Over the course of her career, she has been awarded several prizes and honours, including the Grand Acquisition Award at the Salón Nacional de Buenos Aires in the category of New Media and Installations, and the Acquisitions First Prize and the Visual Arts Acquisition Prize at the 16th Federico Jorge Klemm Awards. In 2022, she received the Platinum Konex Award in the Sculpture category. She is currently creating architectural installations and sculptures in plaster and cast bronze.
WEEK 5 - Friday 10 to Sunday 12 July 2026
Cervio Martini
Pimp y Nela [Pimp & Nela]
A quasi-musical, this nonsensical dialogue takes place on the last remaining iceberg.
Screenplay / Director / Actor: Cervio Martini
Cast: Flor Sanchez Elía, Clara Esborraz
Sound design: Cervio Martini
Lighting: Gonzalo Berdes
Warning: This work contains images that may be offensive to some viewers. Recommended for those aged 16 and over. Children must be accompanied by an adult. The work features strobe lighting and intense visual effects that may affect those who are sensitive to light.
Cervio Martini (Huinca Renancó, Córdoba, 1985) graduated with a diploma in Audiovisual Medi Production from the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in 2011. He participated in the 2017-2018 edition of the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella Artists’ Programme. In 2009, he began developing his artistic career with publications of his works in magazines. Since 2014, he has taken part in production workshops and practical training sessions with artists such as Eduardo Navarro, Carlos Huffman, Karina Peisajovich, Osías Yanov, Diego Bianchi, Mariela Scafati, Nicanor Araoz y Flavia da Rin, and more. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, UV Estudios, the Gachi Prieto Gallery, Buenos Aires Photo, the Big Sur Gallery, the Constitución Gallery, La Fábrica and the Bienal de la Performance.
WEEK 6 - Friday 17 to Sunday 19 July 2026
Ópera Periférica / Pablo Foladori & Gerardo Cardozo
La isla
‘(…) It would be better to put the show on here, I said to Fernanda before she left. Once I was alone, I explored the rooms of the cultural centre once again. I think there were two adjoining rooms. The place was empty, but I could hear a piano coming from one of the rooms nearby. I wanted to have a smoke, so I went out to the park. I walked down the tree-lined street again and, when I returned, the pianist had vanished. It rained. Among the bushes by the entrance, I thought I saw a frog. I opened my notebook and jotted down a brief note about what I’d just seen. It took me years to rework it until it finally took shape. I think I wrote about a storm or about something that never stops falling, but something I could bring to life on the stage.’
Performers: Martín Aletta, Pablo Foladori, Rica, Matías Vértiz
Art and costumes: Marina de Caro
Costumes: Teresa Giarcovich
Lighting: Gonzalo Berdes
Choreography: Florencia Vecino
Electroacoustic composition and live performance: El Piyi
Archlute: Maxi Mas
Symphonic gong: Cecilia Simone
Assistant: Marlón Ze
Book: Pablo Foladori
Stage direction: Gerardo Cardozo and Pablo Foladori
Director: Pablo Foladori
Duration: 30 min
Warning: This work contains images that may be offensive to some viewers. Recommended for those aged 16 and over. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
Ópera Periférica (Pablo Foladori & Gerardo Cardozo) produces theatrical and musical works devoid of the Eurocentric and class biases typically associated with the opera genre. They have delved into multidisciplinary investigations and work with new audiences as well as new technologies, communities and territories. Their works aim to prescribe new modes of production and to subvert the existing hierarchies of bodies and materialities. These debates have given rise to unexpected dialogues and collaborations between different artistic practices.
Pablo Foladori (Buenos Aires, 1976) works in the fields of writing, the performing arts, music, cultural management and teaching. He is the director of the Ópera Periférica, which he founded in 2015 and through which he develops projects in collaboration with different communities, exploring new technologies and the specific relationships with their fields of work. He studied Literature at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from the Universidad Católica Argentina and studied Opera Stage Direction at the Teatro Colón. He was awarded the Fondo Nacional de las Artes Creation Grant in 2016, 2021 and 2022. He was awarded a scholarship to take part in the Winter School / New Opera in Latin America in New York, and was invited to participate in writing the Diccionario Utópico de Teatros, edited by Alejandro Tantanian, Oria Puppo and Andrés Gallina. He has developed more than 50 projects with the Fundación Ópera Periférica. In 2025, he debuted his work Dido y Eneas. Una ópera de emergencia. His works have been staged at Proa 21, the Centro de Experimentación of the Teatro Colón, the Teatro Argentino de La Plata, the Complejo Teatral in Buenos Aires, Paraíso Club and the Centro Cultural Haroldo Conti, as well as other spaces in the City of Buenos Aires.
Gerardo Cardozo (Buenos Aires, 1980) is an actor, dancer and drama teacher. He graduated from EMAD and also works as a director and researcher. He holds a Master’s degree in Theatre and Performing Arts from UNA. He joined Ópera Periférica in 2019.
Week 7 - Thuesday 23 to sunday 26 july 2026
Ópera Periférica / Pablo Foladori & Gerardo Cardozo – La isla
Thursday 23 July, 7 pm
Cervio Martini – Pimp y Nela
Friday 24 July, 7 pm
Manuel Hermelo – Los párpados son pies que bailan con la luz
Saturday 25 July, 4 pm
Grupo BESA – Primera palabra
Saturday 25 July, 6 pm
Elba Bairon – S/T
Sunday 26 July, 4 pm
Beto Antonio Villa – Cancionero
Sunday 26 July, 6 pm