The On Languages of Mobilisation residency of Danae Theodoridou took place from May 26, 2023, to June 1, 2023. During this period, artist, performer, and researcher Danae Theodoridou was hosted by the Baltic Art Center. Danae’s residency focused on investigating how citizens assemble on Gotland and the causes that unite them.

Parallel to her work, Danae ghosted Kalle Brolin during his residency at the Baltic Art Center. This involved joining him in his research on Gotland, where they followed, reflected on, and exchanged ideas about their artistic processes and methods. Danae mapped historic and current peace movements on Gotland, contributing to a local visual vocabulary of peace and military mobilisation on the island.

Danae reflects later on her experience of “ghosting” Kalle Brolin and this role that was assigned to her by the On Mobilisation project in her text Only here could Bergman and Tarkovsky have made their films… Performing the ghost in Gotland:

“It starts with a suspicion (what is this forced collaboration about?) and a certain guilt (how can someone – in this case Kalle – do his work while at the same time having someone else – in this case me – asking questions, time, attention?). How could I intervene in another’s working process? How to not become an annoying burden?
It then evolves into an existential question: what is my role here? What am I supposed to do? What does a ‘ghost’ normally do?

And it ends (at least from the side of the ghost) as a triple act of:
resistance
mutual generosity
emerging knowledge”

Photo credits: Danae Theodoridou
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