Oracular Practices
Theater Show and Exhibition
[PART 1]
Taking vaginal discharge as a surprising element—not because it is exotic, but because it has so often been hidden—Aline Olmos Steler presents a fictional universe where laundromat, museum, dinosaur, panties, exhibition guide, vulvas, and a rare plant coexist, inviting viewers to notice surprisingly obvious elements. This research acts as an aesthetic reflection on palatability and the boundaries of "acceptable taste" within contemporary Western artistic practice.
In this investigation, which unfolds in two formats — a theatre play and a one-on-one performance — the artist introduces vaginal secretions as oracular messages. Just as the mystery of death and the future has led humans to seek answers in coffee grounds, palm lines, or stars, this work proposes a more intimate method of envisioning life’s continuity: observing one’s own underwear and confronting what is revealed.
This page highlights the ongoing research journey for the creation of this exhibition/performance, which represents the first part of the Trilogy of Satiety and will feature a new process presentation at the FRINGE Festival in Amsterdam in September 2025.
The first phase of research - November 2023 at DAS Theater:
The second phase of research - March 2024 at DAS Theater.
Title: Once I pulled down my underwear and I saw a woman with a pipe.
_
SYNOPSIS
Something significant was unfolding before my eyes from that encounter.
I looked closer and saw it:
her clothes, her face, the smoke coming out of his pipe.
Her position was strategic.
Small. "Printed" like a painting on a 5-by-7 cm cotton fabric.
I remembered that I had just put a lot of clothes in the washing machine.
I returned and checked.
ECO wash mode ON.
Duration: 2 hours.
No trace will survive.
This show will last approximately half an ECO wash cycle.
Cast & Crew
Conception and direction
Scenography
Original texts
Playwright
Music composition and performances
Performances
Set design
Costume
Light Design
Video Design
Exhibition Video (Rubber Tree)
Translations
Research
Picture
External Advisors
DAS tutor
DAS Artistic Director
External eye and close advisor
Acknowledgements
Aline Olmos
Tetembua Dandara and Aline Olmos
Carolina Nóbrega and Aline Olmos
Carolina Nóbrega
Paula Mirhan
Aline Olmos Steler, Billy Mullaney, Laiza Dantas, Paula Mirhan, Tetembua Dandarad
Tetembua Dandara
Aline Olmos
Gabriele dos Santos
Laiza Dantas
Douglas Lambert
Carolina Nóbrega
Aline Olmos Steler, Billy Mullaney Laiza Dantas, Paula Mirhan, Tetembua Dandara, Carolina Nóbrega
Tetembua Dandara and Thomas Lenden
Carolina Nóbrega, Marta Keil e Tetembua Dandara.
Marjorie Boston
Ingrid Vranken
Leandro Souza
Mário Cabral (in memoriam), Patsy Lassbo, Mahsa Koochak, Sîpan Sezgin Tekin, Marten Heijnens, Chun Shing Au, Renan Marcondes, Merel Heering, Ahmed el Gendy, Douglas Lambert, Elise Bernardelo, Eva Sol, Michiel van Schijdel, Lilian Papini, Eduardo Bordinhon, Rodrigo Batista, Maria Fernanda Vischi D’ottavio, Gabriel Kitoffi Tonelo, Nataly Pimentel Rodrigues, Tatiana Silva Capitanio, Isis Andreata, Flávia Pinheiro, Carolina Bianchi, Maurício Schneider, Lucas Pradino, Fábia Mirassos, Giovanna Kelly, Fernanda Jannuzzelli, Fernando Neves, Katia Daher, Paula Hemsi, Zé Valdir, Andrea Caruso Saturnino, Ricardo Fernandes, Gosie Vervloessem, Bito, Antônio, Nilcilea e Thais Olmos, Manoel e Patrocínio Santander, Marilea Steler de Almeida and DAS Community.