As the resident house cow of Tanzhaus Zürich, Soya the Cow takes the audience on a monthly walk through Zürich, usually on Thursday at 12:30 for an extended philosophical-artistic lunch break.
Inspired by the work of other artists working at Tanzhaus Zürich, Soya invites the audience to (re)discover the city with a fresh pair of eyes. The focus is deliberately on the presence of non-human bodies: dogs walking their friends; pigeons that have transformed a monument into their toilet; bodies of killed animals that are carried through the streets by humans as food or clothing. In a playful and challenging way, Soya the Cow calls for a new constitution of the relationship between humans and other animals, based on our common animality.
After appearing at animal rights and climate protests, in TV shows, theatres and art festivals all over the world, the singing drag cow shows up in Chiasso with a musical program full of emotional songs, surprising storytelling and mesmerising live-visuals, that will immerse you in Soya’s fascinating bovine universe. What would our lives look like if we stopped cutting others to pieces? Can we be free if not everyone is free? An intimate, moving and raw performance, that challenges the human self-image as the centre of the universe.
This event is part of an ongoing research project by cow linguist Leonie Cornips (University of Maastricht) and Louis van Hengel (University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht) and aims substantially to creative exchanges between arts and science, to the recent debates on the animal turn in linguistics, and to the growing need of recognizing that non-human animals might be queer as well. Together with Swiss artist Daniel Hellmann and his vegan drag-cow alter ego Soya the Cow and the Dutch collective of filmmakers De Transketeers, we will focus on one dairy cow/bull called Piet, who has been adopted by Leonie Cornips since February 2021 and lives in a small herd, wandering day and night outside in Weert (Limburg). Piet, as an intersex ‘bull’ with both male and female features, can be seen as a queer creature, defying human categories of sex and gender. The event on May 11th will stage an encounter between Soya and Piet as a collaborative form of scholarly and artistic research and practice that aims to re-center real animals and not just "use" them for purposes other than their own wellbeing.
This event is sponsored by NL-Lab, Humanities Cluster (KNAW), Amsterdam and Chair “Languageculture in Limburg” Maastricht University.
After her rainy performance last year, Soya will go back to the animal sanctuary Capra Libera Tutti at the outskirts of Rome for a one-week art residency and a costum-made performance on the grounds of the sanctuary for and with the resident cows, lamas, geese, pigs, sheep, dogs, horses and the vibrant human community that has built around the sanctuary.
For Try Walking in my Hooves, Soya the Cow takes the audience on a philosophical walk through the city. The focus is deliberately on the presence of non-human bodies: dogs walking their friends. Pigeons that have transformed a monument into their toilet. Bodies of killed animals that are carried through the streets by humans as food or clothing. Soya the Cow invites a change of perspective that challenges visual habits and self-image. In a playful and musical way, she calls for a new constitution of the relationship between humans and other animals, based on our common animality.
These performances are Soya's debut in Austria!
For Try Walking in my Hooves, Soya the Cow takes the audience on a philosophical walk through the city. The focus is deliberately on the presence of non-human bodies: dogs walking their friends. Pigeons that have transformed a monument into their toilet. Bodies of killed animals that are carried through the streets by humans as food or clothing. Soya the Cow invites a change of perspective that challenges visual habits and self-image. In a playful and musical way, she calls for a new constitution of the relationship between humans and other animals, based on our common animality.
As the resident house cow of Tanzhaus Zürich, Soya the Cow takes the audience on a monthly walk through Zürich, usually on Thursday at 12:30 for an extended philosophical-artistic lunch break.
Inspired by the work of other artists working at Tanzhaus Zürich, Soya invites the audience to (re)discover the city with a fresh pair of eyes. The focus is deliberately on the presence of non-human bodies: dogs walking their friends; pigeons that have transformed a monument into their toilet; bodies of killed animals that are carried through the streets by humans as food or clothing. In a playful and challenging way, Soya the Cow calls for a new constitution of the relationship between humans and other animals, based on our common animality.
After appearing at animal rights and climate protests, in TV shows, theatres and art festivals all over the world, the singing drag cow shows up in Chiasso with a musical program full of emotional songs, surprising storytelling and mesmerising live-visuals, that will immerse you in Soya’s fascinating bovine universe. What would our lives look like if we stopped cutting others to pieces? Can we be free if not everyone is free? An intimate, moving and raw performance, that challenges the human self-image as the centre of the universe.
These performances are Soya's debut in Portugal!
For Try Walking in my Hooves, Soya the Cow takes the audience on a philosophical walk through the city. The focus is deliberately on the presence of non-human bodies: dogs walking their friends. Pigeons that have transformed a monument into their toilet. Bodies of killed animals that are carried through the streets by humans as food or clothing. Soya the Cow invites a change of perspective that challenges visual habits and self-image. In a playful and musical way, she calls for a new constitution of the relationship between humans and other animals, based on our common animality.
These performances are Soya's debut in Portugal!
The Arten Festival (species festival) at the animal sanctuary Hof Narr in the Zurich Oberland brings together humans and other animal species in a place of peaceful coexistence. During the festival weekend, various spaces on the farm are filled with art - created with, for, or alongside the animals present, amidst the fruit trees, or in the permaculture vegetable garden.
The audience is invited to come to the farm for one or two days, to encounter the animals and artworks, spend time together, and reflect on what it means to be a human*animal and what a sustainable future could look like, from agriculture to cultural creation.
Soya the Cow is co-curating the festival with Lisa Letnansky and will also be a hostess and performer. Save the date (6 - 7 July 2024) and join for this unique weekend of creativity, emotions and respectful coexistence.
Queere Tiere (queer animals) is a new music theater play. The two Zurich-based artists Daniel Hellmann and Coco Schwarz present themselves on stage in their artistic personas Soya the Cow and Piano Prince. Together, they joyfully, humorously, and sensually recount surprising stories and songs about the diversity of sexualities, forms of love, and life in the animal world. Drawing from their personal perspective as queer human animals, the artists interweave stories of real queer animals and animals from myths and fairy tales. The theme of transformation serves as inspiration and a leitmotif here—both in terms of music and text.
Set against a simple backdrop, consisting of an electric piano, a wheel of fortune, and two richly costumed mythical hybrid creatures, the audience is immersed in a fascinating world where gay sheep, lesbian albatrosses, hermaphrodite snails, wolves disguised as grandmothers, and transgender clownfish coexist. The result is a complex image of a nature liberated from heteronormative constraints of interpretation and transmission, making visible and celebrating life in its richly diverse forms of existence.