| art.description.project | Selected video from the Performance Matters Archive was curated by Mary Coble and presented by Valand Academy as part of the exhibition Action Weeks at A-venue, Gothenburg, Sweden.
The Performance Matters Archive“ is a collaboration with the British Library in the form of a box set of 40 DVDs of documentation of all public events for Performing Idea and Trashing Performance with contextualizing texts, including an extended dialogue between Gavin Butt, Adrian Heathfield and Lois Keidan which reflects upon the project’s various challenges and achievements, and its place within the fields of performance practice and research. The Performance Matters Archive is being placed in 12 key public archives in the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle East, South Africa, South America and the USA including Valand Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden.
The selection from the Performance Matters Archive for Action Weeks was based on a queer feminist presentation and included video documentation of live performances, performance lectures and conversations by: Janine Antoni, Rocio Boliver, Bird La Bird, Dominic Johnson, Bruce Benderson, Oreet Ashery, Marcia Farquhar & The Open University, Rose English, Mathias Danbolt, João Florêncio, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Lois Weaver, Amy Lame and Carmelita Tropicana
During Action Weeks, the two week exhibition at A-venue focuses on performance and performativity in a variety of forms, expressions and shapes. The artworks highlight key social issues: Empowerment and participation, the search for empathy and meaningful meetings, while they process feelings of powerlessness, escapism and a longing for emancipation. Through explorations in site, language, material and body we are faced with ambiguous and multifaceted works that often find themselves between established forms of artistic expression. In the exhibition space we encounter ongoing performative works, documentations and processes.
Participants in the Action Weeks are: Agnes Mercedes, Aleksandra Rommer, André Alves, Anna Carlsson, Ida Löfgren, Josefine Chiacchiero, Christine Hagström-Ståhl, Kaisa Luukkonen, Marina Cyrino, Madeleine Jonsson Gille & Elisabeth Klinck, Moa Gustafsson Söndergaard, Ibou Gueye, Ulrika Erdes, Cecilia Lagerström and students from the MA programs Contemporary Performative Arts & Acting.” | sv |
