An overview exhibition in motion

“It is impossible to walk away from this choreographic whole without being moved.” – NRC

In INSTITUTUM, visitors experience a museum tour through different Motus Mori artworks, including one ongoing live performance piece. For 8 weeks, 5 days a week, 8 hours per day INSTITUTUM becomes a place to wander, observe, listen, feel, move and be moved.

INSTITUTUM is a visual choreography of giving and receiving, experiencing and passing on. You literally move from space to space, from experience to experience, guided by music and poetry.

This living archive can only exist if the movements are continuously passed on from body to body. That is why, in this ‘institute’, you are not a spectator but a participant. You recognize the movements of others, adopt them in your own body, or perhaps share a gesture of your own. In each space a different layer of the movement archive becomes visible, audible or tangible. From observing and recognizing, to performing and experiencing, from awareness to memory; this institute is an invitation to reflect on what shapes, moves and connects us – today, and for those who come after us.

NRC (NL): “The absolute highlight of the festival takes place at De Lovie Castle, [….. ] Katja Heitmann presents a successful work with Motus Mori. Across three rooms, she collects and preserves human movement. In the first room, you receive instructions via headphones on how to move—from a distinctive way of walking to how to blend into the crowd most effectively. In the second room, Heitmann, dressed in a sober costume, positions visitors to embody other people’s postures. For example, resting one’s head on the palm of one’s hand—a movement made by Annelies, who passed away at the age of 32. “That way, she didn’t have to carry her own head for a moment.” The final room displays the shadows of all the people who donated their movements. It is impossible to walk away from this choreographic whole without being moved.” (Pleun van den Berg)

De Standaard (BE): “How we move through the world: that is the central question of Motus Mori (…) Physicality is deeply personal, as these stories prove.” (Geert Van der Speeten)

INSTITUTUM was first presented at Kunstenfestival Watou in West Flanders, summer 2026. 

For Kunstenfestival Watou, we collaborated with De Lovie vzw: a social organization in the Westhoek region (Flanders, BE) for children, youth, and adults with cognitive disabilities, multiple disabilities, or increased vulnerability. 15 residents of De Lovie contributed to Motus Mori INSTITUTUM through their movements. Read more in this article written by Katja.

Credits:
Concept, artistic creation: Katja Heitmann
Concept, music, creative producer: Sander van der Schaaf
Performance: Eleni Ploumi, Ornella Prieto, Anton van der Sluis, Josy Patzelt, Maria Mora Navarro, Boris Boes, Katja Heitmann
Production: Stichting This is not a show
Curators Watou: Danielle van Zuijlen, Bart Lodewijks, Michaël Vandebril
Poetry: Carmien Michels
Pictures: Febe Debrabander

Motus Mori INSTITUTUM is a co-production with Kunstenfestival Watou and DansBrabant, and is made possible by the Dutch Performing Arts Fund (FPK) and the Municipality of Tilburg.