Nathalie Vairac’s Performance Explores a Universal Element
Just in case, you are in Tokyo this week:
Don´t miss the opportunity for a special performance of the Indian-Gouadeloupean-French actress & artist Nathalie Vairac – presented at SpaceUn, the only “African Gallery” in Japan.
After a multiple week art residency in the village Yoshino (located in the mountainous & spiritual region Wakayama), the artist will present a creative work, which she developed during this time. Working often with natural elements, she has focused this time on Salt, which is far more than a simple mineral. In her performance work, it becomes a powerful symbol connecting the human body and nature – as a living shared cultural memory.
Vairac’s performance invites audiences to reconsider their own relationship with salt — an element so common it is often overlooked, yet deeply embedded in everyday life. Salt is more than just a spice. It is in us and around us. Salt is in our tears, born out of grief or joy. Salt is in our sweat, born from effort, labor and endurance. Salt also is in & on our tongues.
Since thousands of years, salt in used in kitchens across the world. Its usage for preserving food once has made it more valuable than gold.
In Japan,salt symbolises purification. It has served for the preservation of food, for the ritual cleaning of doorways, as well as in ceremonial traditions. And so, salt is a natural element deeply rooted in our bodies and in human cultures
And then there are the oceans – vast and salted – living archives, carrying stories of migration, adventures, movement, but also of hardship, loss and pollution.
Salt is a silent witness.
Vairac explores this spiritual dimension in her performance, but also in her art, which is on exhibit at SpaceUn until the end of April.
The element becomes more than a familiar substance. The minerals become memories. This is the transformation, the artists use as title of her performance: MARRAM = Transformation of the elements, but also of the processes. Salt is part of us, used, and lived with — an ancient enduring element connecting body, earth, and time.
In her performance, Vairac shows salt as memory and as ritual and its essence as an essential element of physical and cultural significance.
exhibition until 2026-04-19
photo credits:
Nathalie Vairac – program by SpaceUn
photos via Unsplash:
Salt – photo by Faran Raufi
Salt Pyramides in Taiwan – photo by Timo Volz
Salt Lamp – photo by Marcos Paulo Prado
disclaimer for transparency:
For this article, the author has experimented with a “text machine” – a LLM model. Maybe around 10% of this text could therefore be attributed to AI.
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