juan felipe amaya gonzález (JFAG)
Urban Realmjuan felipe amaya gonzález (JFAG) is a Colombian performance artist and theatre maker working at the intersection of choreography, sound and installation, often in close collaboration with other artists. He holds a master’s degree in choreography from DAS Graduate School (Amsterdam). His practice examines how infrastructures of power determine what becomes visible and what remains hidden. Drawn to legal grey areas, he investigates everyday strategies of survival, negotiation, secrecy and coded encounters. By introducing light, sound and scent to his performance practice, he explicitly addresses the different senses of the audience, to reflect forms of camouflage and resistance within restrictive environments.
Vigilia (Variations on a Stubborn Agony) is an installation and performance that explores the rituals of care, waiting and the suspension of an ending. Drawing on sauna practices and public bathing traditions, the work unfolds in a humid, steamy environment where heat, custom made towels and aroma shape how bodies appear, disappear and relate to one another. Presented at Felix Meritis as part of an ongoing artistic research, the installation is periodically activated by performers Rafael Gabryelle Reinata Ferreira, as guest and companion, and Simone Gisela Weber, as vigil attendant. A composition for voice and multichannel electronics by Carlos Andrés Rico shapes the atmosphere and rhythm of the space. Together, the performers, the aroma, and sound sustain a vigil in which the anticipated ending never quite arrives, allowing the audience to experience time as something suspended and unresolved. The full version of Vigilia is planned to premiere in 2028.
Credits: Concept and direction by juan felipe amaya gonzález. Performance by Rafael Gabryelle Reinata Ferreira and Simone Gisela Weber. Sound composition by Carlos Andrés Rico. Set and costume design by Sofia Loose Martínez de Castro. Custom aroma design by Frank Bloem. Text developed in collaboration with Zahra Mohseni. Artistic research contributions by Camilla Strandhagen and Catalina Insignares.