Cain in Absentia: The actors are gone, but their traces remain. A prison performance carried into the world outside.

Cain in Absentia is a performative installation by Jubilo Foundation, based on a performance of Cain in Penitentiary Wrocław 1 in 2019. The sets, lighting and sound from the piece allow you to step back into a world created by the actors behind the massive walls of the prison. According to the creators, the space of the installation makes it possible to ‘delve deep into oneself, into regions that are painful but allow you to better understand your essence’.

The notion of absence is a starting point for the creator’s audiovisual research and a key to interpreting the work. By tracing the bodies of Cains, the video projections featured in the installation merge organically with recorded voices. Through a fusion of theatre and visual arts, the piece Cain is given new contexts and meanings. The actors are physically absent, but the creators manage to rediscover ‘a way out, towards society, far from our public subjectivity and status, finding a new level of presence ‒ a redefinition of ourselves’.

The installation received special non-competition award at the 6. National Competition of Prison Theater Works in Poznań and a special prize at the „Prison Movie” 2019 International Festival of Prison Films in Olsztyn.