What did you do when you were hurt? What legacy do you want to leave behind when you leave (this world)? Qué importa el abismo raises questions about wounds we have suffered, scars on the body or in the soul. Because the scars that we accumulate represent the legacy that we carry from the present into the future.
Directed by Aïda Colmenero Dïaz and inspired by the poem of the same name by Josune de Goñi, the work Qué importa el abismo questions the limits of physical and emotional body sensation. The haunting solo performance is part of the multidisciplinary project series She Poems. Together with female performers from various African countries and based on poems by female authors, Dïaz develops dance performances, short films and photographic series that question the common patterns of African narratives and focus on the creative potential of a young generation of African female artists.
DIRECTOR Aïda Colmenero Dïaz | SHE Estelle Foli | MUSIC Kai Engel | PRODUCTION Lomé (Togo) and Accra (Ghana) by Yakart, 2017 | CO-PRODUCTION Spanish Embassy in Accra, Casa Africa, Cultural Center Brin de Chocolat, Goethe-Institut Lomé, Aske Dance Company
She Poems is an international project with 40 artists from 15 countries under the artistic direction of Aïda Colmenero Dïaz. Since 2013, She Poems has produced six contemporary dance pieces and around 20 short films and photo series. The short films, photo exhibitions and stage works have been shown in more than 30 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Based on their cultural and personal context, the artists of She Poems engaged in processes to transform selected poems into physical, intimate or audiovisual formal languages.
She Poems questions stereotyped, Western perceptions that have been and continue to be imposed on Black African female bodies in particular, in order to open up ways for more differentiated perspectives.
Aïda Colmenero Dïaz, born in Madrid, is a choreographer, actress, filmmaker, mentor and curator of the performing arts. In 2021, she was the first Spanish artist to receive the prestigious Pina Bausch Fellowship for her outstanding choreographic work. She has produced and presented projects in more than 25 countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America – including Mercat de les Flors, Fabrik Potsdam, Théâtre Paris Villette, Pina Bausch Center and at festivals such as the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, the Festival Grec de Barcelona and the Cali Dance Biennial in Colombia. She is the founder and artistic director of the intercontinental project She Poems. She works in international collaborations and has been commissioned by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the UNESCO World Heritage Group in Spain. She is committed to innovation, education and the transformative power of the performing arts, advising artists around the world and leading numerous educational initiatives. In 2024, she won an award at the Bienal de Mujeres and was appointed Artistic Director of MAISHA, a cooperation project between the European Union and the African Union.