Untitled 1991/2008 (shall we dance)

Rirkrit Tiravanija

November 17, 2023

  • Past
  • Performance
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Photo credit: Ryan Muir

For his exhibition A LOT OF PEOPLE, Rirkrit Tiravanija (Thai, b. 1961) stages five interactive artworks as a series of plays. In untitled 1991/2008 (shall we dance), an actor invites visitors to dance to the song “Shall We Dance” from the 1956 musical film The King and I. Based on a popular Broadway musical, the film tells the story of an English governess who travels to Thailand (then Siam) to tutor the children of the king. In the scene Tiravanija references, the governess teaches the king to dance in a Western style. By recasting and traversing the east/west, civilized/uncivilized binaries that the film perpetuates, the artist creates a platform for animated encounters between strangers.

Performers:
Anna-Ting Möller
Dylan Kim
Erica Enriquez
Sidian Liu
Zhiqian Wang

Dates

Fridays and Saturdays,
November 17 – December 9, 2023

2023-11-17 12:00:00 -0500
2023-12-09 12:30:00 -0500

Credit

Organized by Ruba Katrib, Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs, MoMA PS1, and Yasmil Raymond, guest curator, with Jody Graf and Kari Rittenbach, Assistant Curators, MoMA PS1.

Production: Lauren DiLoreto, Director of Program Production; Richard Wilson, Exhibition and Production Designer; Kate Robinson, Senior Registrar; Lilly Hern-Fondation, Senior Project Manager, Exhibitions and Commissions; Nick Scavo, Senior Project Manager, Music, Performance, and Events; Anna Grofik, Preparator; and Lauren Tosswill, Plays and Activations Manager.

Sponsors

Major support for Rirkrit Tiravanija: A LOT OF PEOPLE is provided by Maja Hoffmann / Luma Foundation, the Family of Lise Stolt-Nielsen, the Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, and the International Council of The Museum of Modern Art.

Generous support is provided by Glenstone Foundation and Ellen and Michael Ringier.

Additional support is provided by Steven and Alexandra Cohen, Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, and Craig Robins and Jackie Soffer. Funding is also provided by Eileen and Michael Cohen and Laura Steinberg and Bernardo Nadal-Ginard.

Special thanks to Artek and Jungly Restaurant.