Meg Stuart is an American choreographer and dancer, born in New Orleans, living and working in Berlin and Brussels. Stuart moved to New York in 1983 and studied dance at New York University. She continued her training at Movement Research where she explored numerous release techniques and was actively involved in the downtown New York dance scene. Invited to perform at Klapstuk festival in Leuven (B) in 1991, she created her first evening-length piece, ›Disfigure Study‹, which launched her artistic career in Europe. In this choreography, Stuart approaches the body as a vulnerable physical entity that can be deconstructed, distorted or displaced but still resonates and has meaning.

Interested in devising her own structure through which to develop artistic projects, Stuart founded Damaged Goods in Brussels in 1994. Together they have worked on over thirty productions, ranging from solos such as ›XXX for Arlene and Colleagues‹ (1995), ›Soft Wear‹ (2000) and the evening-length solo ›Hunter‹ (2014) to large-scale choreographies such as ›Visitors Only‹ (2003), ›Built to Last‹ (2012) and ›UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP‹ (2015). Other projects include video works, installations and site-specific creations such as ›Projecting [Space[‹ at the Ruhrtriennale 2017. Meg Stuart has worked closely for many years with PACT Zollverein where she has shown much of her work and premiered her production ›VIOLET‹ in 2011. In 2018, Meg Stuart is returning to PACT together with Damaged Goods and Jompet Kuswidananto to present ›CELESTIAL SORROW‹.

Stuart strives to develop a new language for every piece in collaboration with artists from different creative disciplines and navigates the tension between dance and theatre. Her choreographic work revolves around the idea of an uncertain body, one that is vulnerable and self-reflexive. 

In 2000 Stuart and Damaged Goods received the Culture Prize K.U. Leuven; in 2006 she was awarded the German Theatre Prize ›DER FAUST‹ for her work ›REPLACEMENT‹ which was developed in part during a residency at PACT. In 2008 she received the French Critics’ Prize for ›Blessed‹ which was co-produced by PACT, as well as a ›Bessie Award‹ for her body of work. In 2012, the Academy of Arts, Berlin awarded her the Konrad-Wolf Prize for outstanding achievements in the performing arts. In 2018 she was awarded The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Biennale di Venezia and, together with Damaged Goods, The German Dance Prize in recognition of extraordinary artistry. 

Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods has an ongoing collaboration with Kaaitheater (Brussels) and HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin). 

More about Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods at PACT

Jompet Kuswidananto is an Indonesian artist whose work ranges from installations and sound pieces to performances and theatre productions. He studied Communications at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. Originally trained as a musician, Kuswidananto turned to the visual arts and went on to work within the local Yogyakata art community. Since 1998, he has been actively collaborating with Teater Garasi, a multidisciplinary collective of artists making works that reflect Indonesian life after the fall of the Suharto regime.

Kuswidananto’s practice focuses on the issues of politics, colonialism, power and mass mobilization in post-reformation Indonesia, while also exploring the country’s history and the complexities of contemporary life in a globalized world. In 2014 he was awarded the Prudential Eye Award (in the installation category), a major prize for emerging Asian artists.

Kuswidananto has participated in significant national and international exhibitions, including the Yokohama Triennale (2008), the 10th Lyon Biennale (2009) and Phantoms of Asia at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (2012). Solo shows include ›Java’s Machine: Phantasmagoria‹ at the Osage Gallery, Singapore and Hong Kong (2009 and 2010), ›Grand Parade‹ at the Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (2014) and ›On Paradise‹ at MAC’s Grand-Hornu, Belgium (2017). Together with Meg Stuart and Damaged Goods, Jompet Kuswidananto will present ›Celestial Sorrow‹ at PACT in 2018.