We No Longer Have To
Collective Performance
2026 Bremen, Germany
June 2026
June 2026
One step leads to another, just as every movement carries the memory of the one before it, directing how we might move through life; through a chain of connections, relationships, and ways of learning that slowly carry us toward the places, and the people we are meant to encounter. And so, we found ourselves here, at this very moment.
We knew the story of this old rope that had spent its entire life holding cargo ships, yet had never itself been carried. That afternoon, we did it differently. 300 kilograms distributed among 17 people. 17 attachment points on the rope. 17.6 kilograms resting on each body.
But those 17.6 kilograms soon became something else: memories, challenges, identities, vulnerability, and all the invisible weight we carry throughout our lives. Every step, every drag, every shoulder, arm, and back supporting the rope became an invitation to return to the body, to notice where our own burdens live and to reflect on what it means to carry the symbolic weight of who we are, where we come from, what we have lived through, and what still lies ahead.
That afternoon, we discovered that 300 kilograms is a number that is not impossible to carry. Not because of physical strenght, but because you are not the only one. And what made it possible was the genuine willingness to support one another.
A group of 17 migrant women and FLINTA people carried the rope from Hafenterrassen in Überseestadt to the MS Dauerwelle, walking 1.25 kilometres before bringing it onto the boat. In this way, what initially appeared almost impossible for one person, became possible through collective effort.
Previously used to anchor cargo ships in ports, the rope, through its materiality and immense weight, became a metaphor for displacement, labour and emotional movement across territories. The performance made these invisible forms of burden physically tangible by using the body as a medium through which to literally feel their weight.
The performers shared the weight of the rope among themselves as they walked along the path, reflecting inwardly on their lived experiences up to that point. They returned to the body, feeling the physical weight while also realising that all the burden each of us carries can be moved and faced when we open ourselves to mutual support.
It makes visible through the act of carrying a heavy weight, the diverse realities and emotional challenges connected to migration, including experiences such as recent arrival, long-term migration, political exile, economic and academic migration, family-related migration, and intergenerational displacement.
You always tried to keep yourself strong during the process. “You shoudn’t cry, you should always keep and keep going” but when you get tired what do you do then? How do we manage expectations?. We found ourselves reconnecting with a grief that never truly ends: the grief of migration. We recognised once again that same vulnerability of feeling overwhelmed by something immense, when everything seems to be working against us, when our bodies can no longer hold so much exhaustion, when the only refuge is to retreat beneath the covers and wait for the phone call that comes from the other side of the world and to pretend that everything is okay.
Weight is relative, because the experience of migration is different for each of us. Pain is relative, because every body responds to what it carries in its own way. Exhaustion is relative, because resilience lies in our willingness to hold one another, to tell our stories, to listen, and to reinvent ourselves as many times as necessary without losing the essence of who we are.
The project responds to a broader need for spaces of support and collective care within Bremen’s migrant communities, understanding migration not only as an individual experience, but as something that can become more bearable through community and shared presence.
The second phase of the project took place one month later through the women’s circles at Circa106. These gatherings provided an opportunity to reflect –by dialogue, active listening, and collective reflection– on the act of carrying the rope, the emotions and memories awakened through the body, and the meanings that emerged from sharing both physical and psychological weight with other migrant women and FLINTA.
Pictures by Jimi Liu (ig @jimiliu_)
Videos by Alethia Pinzón-Rodriguez (ig @hyperrealitysucks )