Participatory lecture performance
Verbal, in English
16+

Dávid Somló’s work is characterised by a sensitive exploration of the relationship between sound, space and movement. Situations in which the traditional positions of spectator and performer dissolve are of particular importance in his creative practice: through simple, clearly defined exercises and actions, participants can experience their own presence and their relationship to one another and to the space around them. In recent years, an extremely mundane object – a twig – and the act of balancing it have become the crux of Dávid Somló’s artistic practice. This simple task simultaneously focuses attention to the most minuscule movements of the body, to the perception of concentration and time, and to the community situation in which all this takes place. “How do rituals create a community without communication? How can we form part of a community even if the others are strangers?” asks Dávid Somló. What is particularly fascinating about The (Dis)appearance of the Ritual is that participation in this work does not entail any pressure to be active, express oneself or communicate; instead, it offers an opportunity to slow down, focus, and experience non-verbal forms of being together. By interweaving lecture, choreography, participatory performance and meditative practice, The (Dis)appearance of the Ritual offers a format that is at once artistic research, communal experiment and performative event. I also consider it important that Dávid Somló conceives of the project not as a complete production, but as a modular practice capable of adapting to different locations, communities and cultural contexts. (Ádám Czirák, curator)

What makes us feel part of a community, even among strangers? How can rituals create community without communication? What happens to our attention and our sense of time when we no longer have forms for pausing, experiencing transitions, or bringing things to a close?
Dávid Somló’s participatory lecture performance 'The (dis)Appearance of Ritual' explores the role and absence of communal rituals within the accelerated everyday life of contemporary society. The performance emerges from an artistic research process that grew out of his Halász Péter Award-nominated participatory work 'Delicate Balancing of a Twig'. Through this research, Somló investigates the community-building potential of shared symbolic actions.
The performance takes the South Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s book The Disappearance of Rituals as its artistic and sociological point of departure. According to Han, rituals give lasting form to time and can create forms of community that are not primarily based on the exchange of information or constant communication.
Theoretical reflections are interwoven with forms and collective prcatices drawn from Somló’s participatory artistic practice. The audience is therefore not simply listening to the performance, but actively taking part in a shared inquiry into how ritual experiences might reappear in contemporary life.

Credits

Contributors: Richárd MELYKÓ, Napsugár TRÖMBÖCZKY
Special thanks: Zsófi PACZOLAY, Imre VASS
Co-produced by: Trafó House of Contemporary Arts
Supported by: Placcc Festival, National Cultural Fund

Reviews

"What is this nonsense? Is it participatory choreography, performance, or meditation? From the outside, looking at myself and everyone else, we seem ridiculous. We step outside the world of usefulness, happily waste our time, and create a tiny public disturbance. But when I turn my attention inward, I feel community – a connection without words. We are inventing neo-pagan rituals of nature amid the smell of petrol. And it no longer matters whose idea it was, who gets the credit, or that it began as just one person's invention. (...) We become a secret society in the middle of the public crowd, communicating without words, quietly trying to convert passers-by from their objectified world. (... ) Its peculiar power is that it opens a portal to another dimension."
– Noémi Herczog, Laudation at the Halász Péter Award, 2026.

“Throughout the ritual, we repeatedly held on to one another, and there was something profoundly sustaining in that gesture: the sense that however alone we may feel in our pain, we are never entirely alone. The liberating force of collective vocal expression is both physical and psychological, but it is also an ancient communal experience. It allows grief, anger and helplessness to leave the body instead of remaining trapped inside it.”
– Orsolya Bálint, Népszava.hu, 2026.

“Rather than creating situations where people express themselves, I am interested in simple shared actions that suspend language and individual identity, allowing collective attention, care, and presence to emerge. For me, rituals are not primarily cultural traditions or symbolic representations, but practical forms that temporarily reorganize how we relate to one another, to our environment, and to ourselves. ”
– Interview excerpt, Magyar Narancs, 2026. 

Tours, Festivals

INOTA Festival, Inota (HU), 2026. 
Sziget Festival, Budapest (HU), 2026.
PINA Festival 6., Káptalantóti (HU), 2026.
Trafó House, Budapest (HU), 2026 Jan-May — Ritual Laboratory I–V WATER Contemporary Art Festival, Burgas (BG), 2025.
The End of Violence Festival / Trafó House, Budapest (HU), 2025.
Kerekdomb Festival, Tállya (HU), 2025.
Festival of Memory / Fara Hoprich, Martínkovice (CZ), 2025.
Homo Novus International Festival of Contemporary Theatre, Riga (LV), 2025.
PASSAGE Festival, Helsingør (DK), 2025.
KoresponDance Festival, Žďár nad Sázavou (CZ), 2025.
Valley of Arts, Kapolcs (HU), 2024.
PLACCC Festival, Budapest (HU), 2023.

Bio

Dávid SOMLÓ is a Budapest-based performance maker and sound artist working with spatial-relational practices. Using simple elements, structures and instructions, he composes performative situations that strengthen one’s connection to attention, the body, the surroundings and the people present. His works take the form of sound choreographies, sound theatre pieces, participatory performances and site-responsive installations. Spatial sound is central to his artistic language: with a toolkit of several dozen portable speakers, he creates flexible and interactive sonic environments. He often works in public space and unusual locations, ranging from underpasses, factories and forests to Turkish baths, synagogue gardens and private flats. All of his works require active participation to varying degrees, creating frameworks in which there are no right or wrong decisions. In his recent projects, he also examines these situations of shared attention in the context of contemporary ritual. 
Dávid Somló’s work has appeared around the world – e.g. in the programme of: Prague Quadriennale (CZ), Festival d'Avignon (FR), Passage Festival (DK), FiraTárrega (ES), D-CAF (EG), Festival XS Bruxelles (BE), 4+4 Days in Motion Festival (CZ), FIME Sao Paolo (BR), Istanbul Fringe (TR), Sonorities (NIR), Mais Imaginarius (PT), Montag Modus (GER), UH Festival (HU), Placcc Festival (HU). He is an associate artist of public space performance network IN SITU and Placcc Festival. 

Contact

Dávid SOMLÓ
somlodavid@gmail.com
davidsomlo.com