-
.
- Русский
(June - December 2023)
The Sessions, a multifaceted proposal curated and directed by Dimitris Chimonas and Lex Gregoriou, emerged out of the need to create a "rehearsal" space for interaction and participation, responding to the limitations and challenges faced by the new generation of artists and the wider society in the contemporary, post-pandemic era. The Sessions propose an alternative, experiential and fluid approach to the production and presentation of artworks, thus creating a public space for assembly, performance, exhibition and alternative education that encourages improvisation, questioning, critique and disorder.
The first cycle of Sessions took place from October to December 2022, at 6 Sapphous Street (formerly DriveDrive), as a series of intersecting and fluid queer happenings that included theatre performances, performance and dance works, discussions, workshops, visual art interventions, live music, poetry, parties and film screenings. More than 25 actions were hosted during this period, in collaboration with more than 60 local artists and collectives. The programme proposed to redefine our relationship with life, art and politics towards the formation of an inclusive and participatory society. Through the activities a living archive of the wide range of projects and ideas around issues of personal and collective identity and sense of belonging was created. The Sessions were established among the wider local art scene as a radical political act in terms of creating a safe space for catalytic action and fermentation of vital needs of artists and marginalised groups, collective reactivation, 'dismantling' of self-identity and qualification of disharmony, but also as a means of personal and artistic survival.
From June to December 2023, and with a lively mood to occupy the entire SPEL building, the Sessions propose a new cycle of performances, concerts, screenings, visual interventions, workshops, parties and talks that honour the multiplicity of interpretation and engagement. Along with the creation of a library curated by Loizos Olympios and a meeting space on the building's rooftop, the overall project addresses modes of transaction, participation and witnessing, advocating the accessibility, inclusivity and participatory nature that should distinguish public urban space.
The Sessions is a staged improvisation that develops in temporal time. The distinction between audience and spectacle, the spectacular and anti-theatrical, breaks down. The audience is encouraged to interact with the installations and the ensemble, seeking creative ecstasy, transfixion and transformation. Placing respect and solidarity at the basis of its operation, the programme, like a wild garden, aims to highlight the beauty and harmony of polyphony as they emerge from apparent chaos and disorder.
The doors of SPEL open on June 19 and the whole process (preparation, performance, archiving) is part of the SESSIONSxSPEL project, which will be open to the public for observation and participation. The official opening of the in-progress project and the summer cycle of activities will take place on 29 June, in anticipation of the start of the intensive, autumn programme.
Sessions aims to be an open and safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and beyond to experiment, dialogue and exhibition.
The programme of individual events will be announced soon.
______________________________________________
STATE GALLERY OF CONTEMPORARY ART - SPEL
73 Ammochostou Street, 1016 Nicosia
Opening hours:
Tuesday - Saturday 12:00-00:00 (closed on public holidays)
Contact:
+357 22 479600, info@moca.org.cy, Facebook/Instagram: spelstategallery
(NΓ/ΣΧ)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
