And thus, to the question asked 6,000 years ago in the Ecclesiastes: “Whatever exists is far off and most profound… and who can discover it?”, two men, before all others, now have the right to answer this question: Captain Nemo and I.
Jules Verne, Vingt Mille Lieues sous les mers, Paris, J. Hetzel, 1871, p. 434
At the origin of this artistic project led by the Belgian collective FC Bergman, bringing together Stef Aerts, Joé Agemans and Marie Vinck, there is a score: Drumming, the longest work ever written by the American composer Steve Reich. In 1970, after returning from a trip to Ghana where he studied African percussion, he spent a year writing this extraordinary piece, first performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on 3 September 1971. Based on a single rhythmic motif, Drumming may give the impression of being repetitive, perhaps even motionless. Yet the composer uses the phasing technique he had by then mastered to perfection, and the work changes constantly, thereby creating a different relationship with time for the listener. Often cited as an illustration of the minimalist music movement, Drumming draws on percussion, voice and even silence. FC Bergman draws from this approach, both musical and transcendental, as the source of its inspiration.
As the idea of Point Nemo emerged on the horizon of this new creation, the project of an abstract response to an abstract piece of music took shape. Indeed, what could be more fitting for FC Bergman, whose work revolves around the “vast world” and the search for markers by human beings in a space-time where everyone is looking for their place, than Point Nemo, the place farthest from any inhabited land? Except that here Point Nemo is not approached in the literal sense, but rather in a figurative one, like a cemetery of hope, where any attempt to control existence would be futile.
Adapted, shaped and dictated by the music, the stage installation gradually becomes the main character of the performance. Conceived as a performance piece and devoid of text, Point Nemo is a wandering through fragments of the inhabited world, where the Garden of Eden, artificial because it is controlled by the hand of man, slowly falls apart. A way of reminding us of our own humanity: to accept the illusion of control in order to better contemplate the beauty of life. At once a sonic, sensory and physical experience, Point Nemo is a metaphor for existence, or an ode to letting go.
Secrets d’une œuvre
To learn more about Point Nemo, a presentation of the show will be held 45 minutes before the performance begins in the Salon Diaghilev, led by Aurélien Poidevin, editorial director of the Châtelet, on Monday, September 28, and Tuesday, September 29, 2026 (free admission, reserved for ticket holders for that day’s performance).
Bord de scène le mardi 29 septembre 2026 à l’issue de la représentation
