Palacon is a A 17 minute collectively produced post-apocalyptic musical film telling the story of a group of young dissidents who use one material in abundance—onions—to create a scenography of dissent from the outside world, momentarily forging a self-sustaining community who sing songs of protest in Esperanto and rebuild a world which has fallen apart.

Palacon means “palaces” in Esperanto, the language of hope and unification. The lyrics of these songs are descriptions of patriarchal architectures and their destruction, with calls to action to build together new palaces of equity and collectivity.

The onion has been used for apotropaic purposes (to ward off evil) across many cultures, and is a symbol for eternity, togetherness, and a search for hidden truth. The word “onion” derives from the Latin “unio” which means “unity” or “oneness”. Onions were one of the earliest known crops to be cultivated, 3,500 BCE. The use of the onion in Palacon is to take an ordinary element with symbolic value around which to build a new world.

Palacon was produced during a five day performative workshop held in the CAPC Bordeaux with current and past students from the EBABX: Lina Maria Benmoussa, Vénus Berry, Antonin Blanchard, Anaëlle Cassagne, Juliette Fertin, Perrine Le Guennec, Irena Li, Louise Nicola de Lamballerie, Quentin Ribeiro.
Collaboration with: Elise Ehry and Daría Galabriel
Camera: Margaux Parillaud
Sound: Leandro Barzabal

Photo credit: Arthur Pequin

Palacon with Elise Ehry and Daría Galabriel
Performative Workshop + Video, 17 minutes
CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux
2020