Lander Merckx

Avondland is a theatrical performance that explores the boundary between installation and performance. It is a quest to create a symbiosis between different artistic media.

The performance is based on the Prose Edda, recorded by Snorri Sturluson, which preserves some of the most iconic and poignant stories from Norse mythology, rooted in ancient pagan traditions. The majority of this mythological material appears in the first part of the work, Gylfaginning (“The Deluding of Gylfi”), which recounts both the creation and the end of the world.

This epic theme resonates remarkably strongly with our current times. Are we ourselves living in an end time? Avondland does not seek a definitive answer, but rather offers a form of hope that can coexist with pessimism, even walking hand in hand with despair: a hope born from the pure uncertainty of what the future will bring. A hope of hopeful pessimism. The narrative of the Edda provides a mythical framework from which we can reflect with a fresh perspective, questioning the world we live in today without the ambition of offering a ready-made or definitive explanation.