A Tear | Durational embroidery and storytelling performance | Klesenza Alpe (AT), September 2023

This performance was activated as a component of the Glacier Ceremony, which was curated and executed by the interdisciplinary art collective Sympoietic Society. This event marked the concluding chapter of the ICE * In Case of Emergency project, taking place on September 9, 2023, in Austria. While half of the collective embarked on a journey to the Rote Wand glacier, the remaining members established a public and interactive project space at the Alpe Klesenza Hütte.

As the altitude team initiated their ascent, an embroidery station was established near Klesenza Hütte, facing the Rote Wand summit and its neighboring mountain range. Throughout the day, Eline meticulously embroidered the Mourning Veil, a tactile archive gathering stories of ecological loss, care, and remembrance. A container filled with iridescent beads was placed on its surface; visitors were encouraged to select one bead, symbolizing the grief they may bear, and decide whether to retain it or return it to the host along with a personal narrative to be embroidered onto the Veil. Following the conclusion of the Glacier Ceremony, stories collected from Finland, Italy, and Austria were relayed to the returning hikers through audio transmissions, establishing a fragile yet tangible connection between the base camp and Rote Wand.

Photo credit: Sympoietic Society