Salute / Salat (2008)
Salat is the name given to Muslim prayer ritual, a process of self-purification. For some it is about attaining forgiveness, for others an appeal for protection from unjust deeds. Like any prayer it forges a deep connection with the spirit.
Salute/Salat is a stirring inquisition of organizational systems; a journey in movement as four US soldiers shift from proud officers to remorseful war resistors seeking Canadian refuge.
United at the outset in honor, a traditional gun salute conjures the discipline and cooperation of military pageantry, the salute by definition an act of worship. Executed with precision, the war machine disbands but the soldiers are bound now in a union of remorse.
Randera favors notions of surrender in this performance, commenting that, “by celebrating connectivity in various organizational forms we begin to break down the notion of ‘other.’ Any submission to a higher power is a shared act, deep down we all long for it. Indeed civility depends on it.
*Beautiful – Daniel McGiver
Salute / Salat 2008 at Summerworks Festival, Toronto