Monere (Before the Deluge, Act 1)

Before the deluge presents an interdisciplinary trilogy which explores transoceanic mythologies in the context of climate crisis, looking into which sources of knowledge we draw from in preparation for climate disaster. Flood myths, found in diverse cultures across the globe symbolising renewal and purification, intertwine with dystopian tales that explore the consequences of environmental devastation, the end of the world. Yet, the world has ended many times already. Inspired by the paper ‘Deluge: From Genesis to Atlantis’ by Siversen and Redman, which traces narrative parallels between a vast amount of flood myths across the world, the project seeks to juxtapose climate forecasting, environmental data sets and adaptation strategies from flood myths.

Together, the three chapters seek to counter contemporary perspectives on dystopian endviews with other tales about co-existence in apocalyptic times. the dualistic mindset developed in western science which separates humans from the natural world, can be widened by queering our perspectives of ecological and mythological knowledge. The lecture performance ‘Monere’ dives into the first chapter of this trilogy.

We awake on an island in the middle of an endless sea. This mythopoetic island – stuck between and beyond time and space – is where all deluges birth and come to die. We follow the journey of a player who wanders the island in search of new wisdom, mysterious relics, and their escape. who – or what – can save them from themselves? Before the deluge traces historical and cultural perspectives from transoceanic mythologies to explore the climate futures ahead of us.