Skip to main content
Ula Sickle — Photo © Ania Rosinska Luczak

Ula Sickle

Choreographer-performer Ula Sickle (1978, Canada/Poland) lives and works in Brussels. For her performances she seeks artists from very different contexts. In doing so, she searches for choreographic forms that reveal the cultural coding and political power of ‘popular’ dancing or movements. The focus often lies on musicality and physicality.

 

Sickle studied Art History & Semiotics in Toronto, Performance in Paris and Performing Arts Research at P.A.R.T.S. (Brussels). She is currently working on a doctorate. 

 

She was artist in residence in Ujazdowski Castle in Warsaw (2017) and in Wiels in Brussels (2018). Her work has appeared in e.g. Kaaitheater, KVS and Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels); Wiener Festwochen (Austria); CTM Festival (Germany); les Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales (Paris). Also in museums such as Serralves Museum (Porto), Munchmuseet (Oslo) and MACBA (Barcelona). 

 

Ula Sickle receives support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Flemish Community.

On display at COME CLOSER

Relay (extended), 2023

Performance, new work

In a long performance lasting several hours, a group of performers hold a black flag in the air. A symbol of protest, the constant motion of the flag in the wind is a fascinating test of endurance. Each performer keeps the flag moving individually but above all, it is the joint effort that makes Relay so powerful. Waving a flag can start with one individual. Keeping it moving is, for the artist, a collective responsibility. In this extended version of the performance nine performers partner with the wind to keep three flags afloat.

Relay (unplugged), 2019

Performance, on loan for the Middelheim Museum collection

In a long performance lasting several hours, a group of performers hold a black flag in the air. A symbol of protest, the constant motion of the flag in the wind is a fascinating test of endurance. Each performer keeps the flag moving individually but above all, it is the joint effort that makes Relay so powerful. Waving a flag can start with one individual. Keeping it moving is, for the artist, a collective responsibility.