HELLO TO EMPTINESS is an interdisciplinary choreographic concert exploring the universal rituals of mourning, memory, and collective resilience. Designed as as series, The Indian Chapter premiered in April 2025 across Kolkata, Bangalore, and Delhi. The project weaves together Indian, European, and global traditions of lamentation to create a living, cross-cultural tapestry of sound and movement, preceded by other editions in Greece (2022) and Korea (2023).

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The multi-faceted cast includes acclaimed Indian singer Parvathy Baul, who introduces the company in the Baul tradition, Ukrainian singer and musician Mariana Sadovska, Spanish dancer and countertenor Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola, French dancer and countertenor Julien Ferranti, French dancer, singer and musician Manon Parent, Indian dancer Riya Mandal and Mizo multidisciplinary artist Joshua Sailo.

HELLO TO EMPTINESS INDIA won the Goethe-Institut’s internal South Asia competition and
was chosen from 25 internationally renowned projects as the 2025 production due to its “artistic excellence and the diverse links to India’s rich music and dance traditions”. In February 2024, a 3-week preparatory research trip took place with documentary filmmaker Hajo Schomerus, scientist Dr Rita Panesar, filmmaker Moinak Guho and Stephanie Thiersch.

Among other things, discussions took place with various religious representatives in Bengal, funeral pyres in Varanasi, communities in Purulia and their laments and discussions in academic circles, as well as with musicologists and their research. The results were used to prepare the rehearsals in 2025 and lead to the installation ‘Voices of Laments’, which artistically juxtaposes and connects mourning rituals in Korea, Greece, India and Kenya.

The poetic and emotionally charged journey invites audiences not just to witness, but to share in an immersive ritual space where music, dance, and voices intertwine. A choir of elders, local to each city, enriches the performance with living memories, creating an intimate dialogue between the past and the present as the team sets out in search of lost knowledge of rituals of longing and mourning. The performance becomes a call to collectively embrace absence, vulnerability, and the potential for transformation.

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