Taking place in and around the theatre BeursSchouwberg in Brussels between 29 January and 2 February 2008, Performing Proximties is a micro festival exploring notions of hospitality, intimacy and confrontation, both in relation to programming formats as well as in relation to artistic works. An international group of artists working in the media of performance, dance, video and music will elaborate on new proximities, desired or feared: on the inescapable proximity of ‘the other’, on queering desire and intimacy, on re-articulations of care and solidarity in times of accelerated, global capitalism. An intensive weekend of encounters, questioning our positions as artists, friends, audiences, producers, strangers, hosts and guests. Swapping offices, changing roles, touching senses, leaving traces...
As part of Performing Proximities, Igor and Jeanne will talk about their project 'Almost You' and how their exchage and swap of working places breaks through binary oppositions between host/guest, funder/funded, artist/manager and poses hospitality as an act from both sides which stimulates difference rather than role-playing and identity. Jeanne and Igor will try to reflect upon re-negotiating social distances and re-considering social roles inside the "privileged" space of artistic practice.
Curated by Bettina Knaup, an independent curator based in Berlin who works on the interfaces between performance, live art, politics and gender issues.
With the support of Goethe Institute, Brussels; Embassy of the Republic of Croatia, Brussels; Postgraduate School of Performing Arts - Advanced Performance Training, Antwerp (PoPoK-APT)