Tabakalera presents HU/هُوَ. Bailad como si nadie os viera [Dance as if no one were watching you], an installation by Oliver Laxe. Originally conceived for the Reina Sofía Museum, the work is now presented at Tabakalera in an entirely new spatial configuration, specially adapted to the Centre.

The proposal is structured around two distinct spaces in dialogue with each other: on the one hand, a pyramid of loudspeakers typical of the rave world, and, on the other, three projections of desert landscapes featuring silhouettes of temples, speakers and dancing human figures, filmed by the artist in Iran and Morocco over the last decade. These images are closely linked to the visual universe of Sirāt, the filmmaker’s acclaimed movie, which was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2025 and has achieved two Oscar nominations in 2026, two Golden Globe nominations in 2026 and won six Goya Awards in 2026.

The sound work, composed by Kangding Ray (David Letellier), creates a dialogue through two distinct sound sources, which together form an immersive soundscape. The piece, which lasts approximately 15 minutes, is played on a loop.

Through an abstract visual and sonic language, characterised by gentle fades and overlays, HU/هُوَ. Bailad como si nadie os viera creates a universe that emphasises the ghostly nature of the images.

HU/هُوَ. Bailad como si nadie os viera is a work that takes us into the artist's personal imaginary where the quest for transcendence takes as its starting point the very body that dances and remembers, and the presence of the sacred, in the natural, architectural and sonic landscape. Ultimately, it highlights the spiritual and contemplative dimension of Laxe’s work, offering a physical, sensory and synaesthetic experience that aims to re-enchant the world.

The installation is the result of a collaboration between Tabakalera and the Reina Sofía Museum, a partnership that promotes projects in which cinema engages in dialogue with the visual arts and contemporary practices. The San Sebastian International Film Festival joins this partnership, reinforcing a shared commitment to artistic creation and the development of new exhibition formats at the intersection of art and cinema.

About Oliver Laxe

Born in Paris in 1982, Oliver Laxe is the son of Galician emigrants. When he was six years old, his family returned to Galicia. After studying film in Barcelona, he moved to Tangier, Morocco, where he self-produced and shot Todos vós sodes capitáns / You All Are Captains, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight in 2010.

In 2016, he received the Grand Prix at the Cannes Critics’ Week for Mimosas, shot in the Atlas Mountains. After returning to Galicia, he directed O que arde / Fire Will Come, filmed in the heart of the Ancares, which won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and was programmed in Perlak. Fifteen years after his first premiere at Cannes, and having screened films and won awards in all its sections, Laxe made his Competition debut in 2025 with Sirāt and the film was later included in the Made in Spain selection at the San Sebastian Film Festival. The film, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, has cemented its international success, earning widespread acclaim from both critics and the industry, as well as multiple nominations for the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes and the Goya Awards.

In addition to his work as a filmmaker, Laxe is a member of the Ser Association, an initiative based in Os Ancares that promotes the revitalisation of rural areas through cultural, agricultural and community development projects. He also promotes rural development strategies linked to heritage restoration and repopulation, working closely with local development groups.