Eiko Otake & Wen Hui: What Is War?

Created and performed by Eiko Otake (of Eiko & Koma) and Wen Hui (of Living Dance Studio), What Is War is a powerful collaboration that fuses movement, video, and personal testimony excavated from the artists’ recollections of war and its aftermath. Otake grew up in post-war Japan and Wen grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution. Friends since 1995 and working closely since 2020, Otake and Wen explore the enduring impacts of war on human consciousness, collective memory, and the body.

Duke Arts is proud to welcome back Eiko Otake and Wen Hui to Duke, where they developed this performance work in part during a two-week residency with the Duke Dance Program in collaboration with American Dance Festival (ADF) in the spring of 2024.

Please note: What Is War contains nudity and addresses the subject of war.