Activities —
The Practice of Democracy – Experimentations of the Public Body
Residency
October 2, 2023 - October 21, 2023 AntwerpwpZimmer
Performance maker and researcher Danae Theodoridou expands her artist research on the Practice of Democracy during her 3-weeks long residency at wpZimmer, starting on October 2 – October 22, 2023. She starts a new thread of work focused on the practice of conflict, and develops further her recent work on the practice of assembling.
In the last five years, Danae has used a score-based method of work in order to create a series of participatory experiments that deconstruct existing democratic practices such as public speaking, protesting and assembling. Through open calls, inhabitants of different European cities have been involved in the creation of this work. The residency in wpZimmer follows a similar methodological approach to create new participatory scores for practicing conflict and assembling. Inhabitants of the city of Antwerp and beyond, as well as students of the art schools, are invited to interpret these scores and take part in live events that attempt to reactivate democratic practices that are significantly restricted in western sociopolitical contexts.
During the residency an experimental performance/workshop titled AN ATTEMPT TO DEVICE A DEMOCRATIC ASSEMBLY facilitated by Danae Theodoridou, hosted by wpZimmer, is organised on:
Sunday, 15 October 2023, from 14.00-17.00
Location: wpZimmer, Gasstraat 88-90, 2160 Antwerp
The language of the event is English.
The participation is FREE, but the number of participants is limited.
Please reserve your place either through the LINK, or send an email to latifa@wpzimmer.be.
During this experimental performance, we create our own democratic assembly, where we share our views on democracy and social coexistence, guided by a script set up by artist Danae Theodoridou who is also facilitating the process. As a participant, you’re handed the script at the beginning and everyone is assigned a ‘role’ usually found in an assembly: the speaker, the listener, the moderator. The script is used as a playful proposal that guides us in what to do or say, or even refuse to do or say when disagreeing with the script.
It starts from her work on the “Practice of Democracy”, focusing on the relationship between art and democracy. After the Analogue Campaign (2019), which focused on the practice of public speaking, and Languages of the Unheard (2020), which experimented with the language of protests, this time the focus is on an embodied approach to the practice of assembling. Through a playful role-game in which a temporary assembly is formed, participants experiment with ways to practice democracy both individually and collectively, as part of a multi-voiced group.
We are welcoming you with a hot soup and soft introduction before the workshop begins.
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The residency also includes: studio work and exchange with long-term collaborators Rudi Laermans, Betina Panagiotara and Efrosini Protopapa; co-working studio sessions with ON MOBILISATION artist Daniele Ninarello; a workshop on the ‘public body’ with students of Koninklijk Conservatorium Antwerpen; and a public discussion on emancipatory participation in art, between the maker and performance artists Ana Rispoli, Lara Staal, and Ahilan Ratnamohan, curated by Performing Public Space (Fontys, NL), part of the public event Evening School: ON MOBILISATION AND LEARNING, organised by wpZimmer from October 18 – October 20, 2023.
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Theodoridou’s work is supported by the Flemish Ministry of Culture.
