Bettina WitteVeen’s Film “Götterfunken” (Sparks of the Deity) will be shown in the exhibition Tanzwelten (Dance Worlds) at the Bundeskunsthalle (Bonn, Germany) from September 26, 2024 until February 16, 2025.

The poetic film interweaves ritual dance sequences that WitteVeen recorded over the course of a decade on location during her travels in Indonesia, Cambodia, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Cuba and on a Lakota reservation in the United States of America, and then intercuts with abstract film images. Even though the individual sequences draw on a wide variety of ethnographic sources, the film's narrative reveals an overarching unity, which WitteVeen describes as “the cosmic dance of life” in which we are all connected.

Still of Apsara Dance from the film “Götterfunken” (Sparks of the Deity) © Bettina WitteVeen

The exhibition Dance Worlds at the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn sheds light on dance as a global form of performance and expression, presenting a concept that spans time and space and incorporates many forms of dance. In thematically organised chapters, it looks at the multitude of different manifestations and styles and illuminates dance as an essential part of our existence. 

Even in the earliest cultures, dance was an important part of rituals, ceremonies, festivals and entertainment. It may also have played a central role in the transmission of stories before they were recorded in writing. In many parts of the world, dancing is deeply rooted in the community and creates a sense of belonging. 

Since dance rarely stands alone, the exhibition also looks at its many connections to other art forms. The exhibits range from dance representations in early cultures to modern visual arts and examples of contemporary dance.

Curators: Katharina Chrubasik, Daniela Ebert, Claudia Jeschke