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In her performance and installation Whipstitch (2024), Moa Holgersson (1983) introduces three characters: the clown, the horse girl, and the ringmistress. The title refers to a sewing stitch used to finish off the edges of a fabric to make sure the threads stay neatly in place and the fabric does not unravel. In her performance, Holgersson does the exact opposite of neatly finishing things off. Instead she unravels ingrained stereotypes about women, dislodging them by using her whip and her voice.
Whipstitch combines several themes that Holgersson has long been interested in, including disobedient women, equestrian sports, and the power of the human voice. Holgersson has been riding horses from a young age. She is fascinated by the paradoxes of horseback riding: although now considered a typical pastime for young girls, in a historical sense it is mainly connected to the masculine world of the army. While today the sport is associated with traditionally feminine characteristics like care and beauty, the people dominating the top are still mainly men.
The human voice, and how you can use it to exert influence on the world around you, is another recurring theme in Holgersson’s work. She has immersed herself in a variety of voice techniques, including Kulning, an ancient Scandinavian tradition that uses hypnotic, melodious calls to herd grazing livestock. Inspired by techniques like these, as well as by vocally disobedient artists like Nina Hagen, Holgersson explores the range of her own voice. And that reaches much further than what we would usually consider an appropriate tone of voice, especially in women.
Text: Sarah van Binsbergen