Open Letter: DRAGONS

Rio, Berlin, and everywhere in between. Dear Hélio Oiticica Art Center,
dear people who make the body and the city living matter—
I write with the desire to build dragons.
Creatures born from the rest, from the leftovers, from the sparkle that time insists on erasing.
With the hands of those who collect what has been left behind, I want to create, together with other hands, bodies that burn, dance, and reinvent themselves.

Dragons are philosopher’s stones in motion.
They are born from the mixture of what has been lost and what still pulses.
From raw materials — paper, plastic, metal — magical bodies emerge, forged by the heat of collaboration.
The gold we seek is not metal, it is encounter.
It is the transformation of the ordinary into the extraordinary, of discard into desire, of dirt into symbol.
I propose an open residency: a space to breathe, invent, and sew worlds together.
I want to occupy Hélio Oiticica not as an isolated studio, but as a collective womb, an alchemical laboratory of transformation. Together with Pimpolios da Grande Rio, with its recyclable materials and carnival power, I want to bring community dragons to life—beings made of cardboard, plastic, fabric, memories, laughter, affection, and sweat.
Dragons that belong to no one, but belong to everyone.
Dragons that are born from trash and fly through imagination.
Dragons that do not burn cities, but ignite people.
During the process, I want to open the doors, invite anyone who wants to participate—children, neighbors, artists, curious people, passing bodies, observing gazes. Hold workshops, performances, small conversations that become movement.
And, in the end, transform the top floor of HO into a collective ritual—
a flight, a chorus, a gesture of celebration and reconstruction.
What I desire is public alchemy:
to transform weight into lightness, waste into relics, matter into spirit. Each dragon will be a communal philosopher’s stone—
the result of the fire of conviviality and the patience of the process.
That is why I am writing this letter — not only as a proposal,
but as an invitation,
as a spark,
as a promise of a fire that warms and does not destroy.
With affection and alchemy,

Lola Lustosa

2025

>>Start 2026

MORPHEX is an audio-visual performance created by the artists Lola Lustosa and Mahir Duman. The work refers to the old tradition of the dance of masks, a shamanistic ritual to thank the gods and drive out evil spirits. The dance of love and its dangerous emotional positions. Yin & Yang/ Light and shadow /Universal big bangs/ Explosions/ Electricity/ Ancestral feedback/ Identities/ East & West ideologies colliding into one present Bodie. The old and the new merged into psychedelic video projections, dance performances, and electronic music.

The track “Contemporary True ” from De-Feo sets the mood and tells that the god’s door is open. You are welcome to enter and find yourself at the Dance of Masks. De-Feo seeks to overcome the separation of the sensory perceptions of man-made sound and light frequencies or the difference between the various anthropological communication systems. Creating scientific, artistic, and sociological phenomena perceivable for both eyes and ears in a multi-sensory and unexpected environment is his main goal.

The underground Berlin club scene is where the new dance of masks begins its inspiration. The space of an old factory combined with impressive video projections sets a very Unique and post-identity time. Very familiar for the ones that have experienced the best of Berlin club culture. The performer dressing white with a white mask is a clear portal to empathy and self-healing. The figure creates a perfect merge with the space installation and the outside public. The movements combining Butoh, Flow, and theatrical dance are clacking the new healing ritual. Her shadow is a contra point. Is the unthinkable, the untouchable.

MORPHEX has been performed at LPM Munster Festival and 48 Hours Neukölln Berlin Festival 2023.

Watch Trailer:

Links:

https://liveperformersmeeting.net/editions/2023-muenster/program/detail/morphex/

https://avnode.net/events/lpm-2023- muenster/program/morphex/

About Collective:

LICHTNOMADEN is a collective formed by 3 contemporary artists: Lola Lustosa, Mahir Duman, and De-Feo. Merging video projection, dance, and Live music the collective is offering performances in the open air and in public.

MAHIR DUMAN is a visual artist and VJ based in Berlin, presenting live performances, interactive installations, and projection mapping in various European countries, especially for concerts, music- and art festivals, clubs, and art galleries. He was born in Ordu, Turkey, and lived in Istanbul for many years. In 2011 he moved to Berlin and expanded his life and work as an artist. Duman studied Industrial Engineering at Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul, Turkey, and Digital Film & Visual Effects at the SAE Institute in Berlin, Germany. He produces videos, short films, music clips, and lots of other media sets, mixed and synchronized with sound and the rhythm of action. He describes his imagery as unrealistic and surreal, questioning human perception and the interplay between subjects. Mahir Duman defines music as the scenario of a visual show and aims to create a new perspective, a relationship between humanity and the universe, to reach the human subconscious and feelings by playing light, color, and images. He believes that art enables us to find and lose ourselves simultaneously and inspires people’s awareness of unconscious and conscious states of life. https://popkinsart.com LOLA LUSTOSA is an independent Brazilian artist, dancer/performer, and filmmaker based in Berlin. She uses alchemy, rituals, and crafts, and transforms them into multimedia artworks where the public can visit her particular perception and connection with time and space. The artist develops dialogues into social memories crossing from Brazilian Tropicalismo, natives, old mythology, and underground western Crafts. The artist has been part of several important venues as: Morni Hills Art Performance Biennale (IND), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg(GER), ICI – CNN Montpellier(FR), CTM Festival(GER), Novas Frequências Festival(BR), and Rote Fabrik(CH). As co-founder of Musterzimmer since 2012, she had the opportunity to work on the montage and curation of several venues in Berlin. The artist collaborates as a producer and performer for Plataforma Berlin Iberoamerican Festival since 2011. The ongoing virtual Performance “Ego Open Forever”, Mentioned in Wall Street International Magazine, gave the artist the position of the first Artist to question social media, defining Facebook as the biggest ego manager in history. The performance is the starting point to rise works where she questions our social Identity and awareness about the future. She has worked with Arto Lindsay, Alexandra Pirici, Barbara Berti, Christoph Wirth, Eemil Karila, Jarkko Räsänen, Jean Marie Dubrul, Laura Leiner, Mari Stocker, Martha Hincapié Charry, Peter Goss, Serge Ivanov, Simon Rose, Tero Puha, among others. www.lolalustosa.com DE FEO, born in 1995 in Naples is an Italian Dj, sound designer, and visual artist based in Berlin. With experience with soundtracks, events, and media communication in cities like Amsterdam, London, Belgrade, Barcelona, Berlin, and many more, he is part of a generation of artists who work intensively in the transitional area between music, art, and science. His knowledge of communication mixes with skills in new media art to perfectly meet his need to convey to his listeners not only the right sound but a unique collective experience, transporting them to different places with the use of samples created or recorded on his long journeys. In his work, he seeks to overcome the separation of the sensory perceptions of man-made sound and light frequencies or the difference between the various anthropological communication system. Creating scientific, artistic, and sociological phenomenons perceivable for both eyes and ears in a multisensory and unexpected environment is his main goal. His music is regularly supported by names such as: Richie Hawtin, Paco Osuna, Ilario Alicante, Young Male, Florian Meindl, and many more! For DE FEO, making music is not simply about producing sound, but about transporting people into a boundless experience. https://defeodj.com

DANCE UNDER CONTROL (research) 

It is fascinating the harmony of movements between the giant puppet and its manipulators. Are they the puppeteers exercising power on a grand scale? Or are they the puppets trying to free themselves from their strings, from the clutches of their manipulators, by completely reversing the relationship structure? The interaction between the giant puppet and the puppeteers becomes the dance of control, the dance of influence, a performance that depicts the dialectic of power and resistance.

The Dance of Control is a performance that refers to the dialectic of power and resistance. In the winter of 2021, I was invited by Claire Chalet and Saba Tsereteli to collaborate as a dancer/performer and choreographer with the Theatre of Details in the piece Die Be-Suchenden: A Mobile Backyard Theatre for All. Directed by Claire Chaulet. After that experience, I was very taken with the curious dance of a puppeteer and its physical, spiritual, philosophical, and dramaturgical possibilities. This articulation – which is not always possible or perceptible in art – is more manageable in this respect, in so far as these possibilities are visible, presentable, and expressible from dance in art, in this particular case.

Aspects and questions of the research:

my expectation is to deepen these relationships and to find out as a dancer/artist where my training can open new possibilities as a new puppeteer. I intend to continue to collaborate with the Theatre of Details over the next two years on their future productions, interventions, parades, and stories in public spaces. The research I am conducting as a dancer/puppeteer with the support of Theatre of Details goes beyond language and is not just about one culture, but brings together different generations and cultural backgrounds. Different layers of interpretation (visual, sonic, symbolic, semiotic, infantile…), visible accessibility (connecting with the public in public spaces, courtyards, streets), universal stories, and cultural activism.I plan to take time to explore and discover where dance/body language takes me with all the puppets in the collective, and also build my version in others to fully understand puppet culture and give my best in stories and feedback. With the intention of audience interaction and anthropological rescue of the ancient technique of puppet theater mixed with contemporary dance, sound, visual, and urban social possibilities. I want to collect stories that I encounter during this control dance process and answer the questions: What are the limits of the body and the limits of the puppet? Is dance a liberation from the system and a bridge to freedom of expression? Is there a universal movement? Is it possible to escape Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s old dialectic of slave and master? Does the constant renegotiation of this dialectic make this relationship a reflection of our everyday life?

The research of 3 months was just enough for touching all topics mention in the project Research application.

Some images of the research result:

For more Pictures of the Karneval Für Die Zukunft: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=artistaniaEV&set=a.262673609684350

Funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media in the program NEUSTART KULTUR ( aid program DIS-TANZEN ) of the Dachverband Dance Germany. 2023

METAPEACOCK An Infinity Piece is conceptualized to be a collection of performances in constant transformation. That intent to create live site-specific performances/installations living in the future as photo series and video installations.

METAPEACOCK I @ MORNI HILLS PERFORMANCE ART BIENNALE II, Chandigarh, INDIA, 2018

To transform, to transcend, to metamorphose, to escape from common narratives, and embrace your inner self-images. Open gates into a prismatic point of view.

METAPEACOCK II ( Reborn “IT” with Samuel Beckett) @ FESTIVE PREP FOR THE FINISSAGE, Berlin, GERMANY, 2020

Concept, Performance, and installation by Lola Lustosa. Ambient Music: Laura Leiner and Simon Rose. Video Documentation: Joseph Devitt Tremblay. Second camera: Alexander Norton.