Ruby onyinyechi amanze brings 'The Dash'

ruby onyinyechi amanze is bringing “The Dash” to Venice in May as part of “1922 Revisited,” a live-arts program staged during Biennale week. (manilatimes.net) Third Space Art Foundation announced the performance on April 25, saying amanze will present the work in collaboration with Wura-Natasha Ogunji during the program’s May 5-9, 2026 run in Venice. (manilatimes.net 1) (manilatimes.net 2) The piece is described as a durational performance: two performers move in slow motion for one hour through a defined space that can be a room, corridor, or open plaza. Spectators are asked to mark time together as the action unfolds. (compuserve.com) (manilatimes.net) That setup turns the work into a study of pacing, repetition, and shared attention rather than a conventional stage performance with a fixed audience position. The foundation’s release says the structure is meant to explore collective awareness through timekeeping itself. (compuserve.com) “1922 Revisited” is curated by Dr. Janine A. Sytsma and brings together artists from Africa and its diasporas to engage the Biennale’s 1922 exhibition history through contemporary performance. The announced lineup includes Jelili Atiku, Tsedaye Makonnen, Jermay Michael Gabriel Cappellin, Va-Bene Fiatsi, Zora Snake, Bernard Akoi-Jackson, Maddly Mendy-Sylva, Wilfried Nakeu, Ogunji, and amanze. (manilatimes.net) (finance.yahoo.com) The timing overlaps with the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled “In Minor Keys.” La Biennale says the public exhibition runs from May 9 to November 22, 2026, with pre-opening days on May 6, 7, and 8. (labiennale.org 1) (labiennale.org 2) That date matters because the foundation’s program begins on May 5, one day before the Biennale’s official pre-opening starts. In practice, “1922 Revisited” is positioning live performance at the front edge of the week when curators, press, and collectors first arrive in Venice. (manilatimes.net) (labiennale.org) Amanze is best known for drawing and works on paper that explore space, play, magic, and hybridity, according to the University of Pennsylvania and Mariane Ibrahim gallery profiles. The Venice announcement extends that practice into live movement, linking her visual language to a performance built around bodies crossing space in measured time. (design.upenn.edu) (marianeibrahim.com) (finance.yahoo.com) Ogunji’s parallel announcement describes the same work from her side of the collaboration, underscoring that “The Dash” is a joint piece rather than a solo commission attached to one artist alone. Both releases use identical details about the one-hour duration, slow-motion movement, and audience timekeeping. (manilatimes.net 1) (manilatimes.net 2) If the announced schedule holds, Venice will see “The Dash” during the most crowded days of Biennale arrival, before the main exhibition opens to the public on May 9. (manilatimes.net) (labiennale.org)