PERSONA collects and connects the individual and collaborative work by artists Pieter Desmet, Steffi Mennen & Jonathan De Maeyer, as well as giving time and space for their collaborative research the body as manifestation of identity
NEWS
TOGETHERNESS BY PIETER DESMET IN THESSALONIKI, GREECE
Togetherness, the science fiction dance film by Pieter Desmet, will be screened at the Municipal Gallery Casa Bianca, Thessaloniki, on the 27th of May, 2023, within the frame of Video Art Projects and Video Art Miden.
More specifically, Video Art Miden presents in the 2nd Video Art Projects several screening programs & partnerships. Togetherness is part of the program Hidden, curated by Gioula & Olga Papadopoulou
Video Art Projects is organized for the second year by the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Municipal Gallery Casa Bianca and the New Media Lab of the School of Visual & Applied Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The complete program may be found here (in Greek).
CALENDAR
27 May 2023 - screening
Togetherness - Pieter Desmet
Municipal Gallery Casa Bianca, Thessaloniki, GR
9 June 2023 - try-out
My August feels like December - Pieter Desmet
Zuidpool, Antwerpen, BE
3-7 July 2023 - workshop
Loose Control - Pieter Desmet
International Dance Week, Budapest, HU
24-28 July 2023 - workshop
Loose Control - Pieter Desmet
DO The Festival, PO
4 November 2023 - premiere
My August feels like December - Pieter Desmet
De Spil, Roeselare, BE
START OF THE NEW CREATION MY AUGUST FEELS LIKE DECEMBER
The creation of My August feels like December by Pieter Desmet has started on April 24th with a residency at DansBrabant in Tilburg, the Netherlands. My August feels like December will be an intimate, multidisciplinary performance where contemporary dance, digital video art, sound design and textile scenography work together to develop a space where grief and consolation are given time and space to exist. The loss of his parents, and the little space our society leaves for introspection and expression around grief had a great impact on him. With this creation, Pieter wants to create a framework where individual grief experiences can be connected based on what they have in common.
During the residency at DansBrabant, the artistic team, consisting of Pieter Desmet, Martha Gardner, Meron Verbelen, James Hall and Robbe Vandenven, did an initial physical investigation in the studio based on the question of what physical reactions grieving brings with it, and how that can be authentically embodied within the context of an artistic research. They looked at how different their individual physical reactions to mourning can be; how one with their own personal deeper story relates to common similarities that are universally recognised such as feelings of comfort, belonging and recognition in the other.
In addition, the search began to translate the research into digital video art, which James Hall will take on, and the relationship between that medium and the dancing/moving, as well as the feeling body. This will be developed further in the next residency at De Veerman.
PREMIERE KATHARSIS - APRIL 29, 2023 @ NTGent Minnemeers
On April 29th 2023 Katharsis, by Steffi Mennen, premiered at NTGent Minnemeers on Dag van de Dans.
Katharsis is an ongoing research about time and personality. Do memories stay inside our body? How can we relive a memory through movement? How do we grasp something intangible?
The performers, all 60+, have had many experiences and memories, kept in storage within their body. Can we find a (movement)language to speak about these experiences and their effect on the body? Steffi uses not only movement to investigate the effect of time on personalities but she also guides the performers into using other media such as drawing, photography and writing. The artistic proces of Katharsis has created a collective identity.
These life experiences or moments in time pass by, is there a way to archive them?
WORKSHOP LOOSE CONTROL THIS SUMMER IN HUNGARY & POLAND
This summer Pieter will be guiding the workshop Loose Control at the International Dance Week Budapest in Hungary (3 - 7 July) and at DO The Festival in Poland (24 - 28 July).
Loose Control is an amalgamation of various movement ideas and techniques from Pieter's past and present. During the workshop we look for the balance between loosening and controlling our bodies and their movements.
The workshop is divided in two parts. First we focus on connecting physical and dynamic oppositions to each other in order to find different ways of performing movement. We look for different ways of using momentum, effort, (counter) weight and rhythm in order to personalise the shared movements and phrases. Keeping in mind that we all have our unique body and aiming at finding authenticity within framed material.
In the second part we explore the sustainability and awareness of our body while moving through durational and improvisation exercises that seek extremities in individual and shared time, space, flow and weight.
Next to the search for authenticity and opposing forces working together, a main goal of the workshop is to have fun together and enjoy our bodies moving in space together.