Looking back at III: ASSEMBLIES, the final chapter of the participatory event series Il/legal Fictions, hosted by au JUS, which explored the enactment of the ‘public body’ at the intersection of performance and political action. This series presented Danae Theodoridou’s artistic research and her book, Publicing – Practicing Democracy Through Performance.

Theodoridou considers politics as a performative act, linked to the body’s public appearances and forms. Participants experimented with performance as a means to reconstruct public space and time beyond capitalist organizing principles. Emphasis was placed on bodily presence and collective action in public discourse, including forming their own citizens’ assembly. Guided by a script that assigned roles and actions, participants reflected on how legal frameworks enable or constrain social coexistence.

Reflecting the diminishing presence of ‘demos’ in democratic processes, Theodoridou and sociologist Rudi Laermans discussed the role of art in reimagining and rehearsing forms of civic participation and how differences can be confronted constructively. In this vein, THE ADVERSARIES guided two groups into a playful, performative conflict to create a new, shared space born from the synthesis of their perspectives and reflect on conflict as a vital democratic practice.

Event Highlights:

• 17 February: Performing the Public Body – Creation of public space and time through performance workshop with Danae Theodoridou.
• 18 February: An Attempt To Devise a Democratic Assembly – Participatory performance with Danae Theodoridou.
• 19 February: Democratic Politics as ‘Publicing’ – Book presentation with sociologist Rudi Laermans and Danae Theodoridou in dialogue.
• 24 March: THE ADVERSARIES – On the practice of conflict work-in-progress presentation by Danae Theodoridou.

For more info visit: au JUS – Il/legal Fictions

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