EXPLOSION OF SPEECH
by Bigert & Bergström
ARTECITYA project
[performance, installation]

Explosion of Speech in Thessaloniki
[performance]

Swedish artists duo Mats Bigert & Lars Bergström present the first of their series of performances “Explosion of Speech,” that starting from Thessaloniki will later take place in various cities around Europe and will result into a comprehensive film. 
"A fiery paean to the importance of free speech and the power of poetry, the work follows a common thread – a burning fuse – that winds through Europe leaving a burnt-out trail of text in its wake. Words become sentences, evolving into a collective poem created by a group of poets from the cities through which the burning fuse passes. The work evokes words of flame, burning with anger over such topics as financial inequality, unemployment and growing xenophobia. But it also contains bright sparks of hope and love as this cut-up poem takes shape through the use of gunpowder and matches.” (B&B) The first verse of the poem is contributed by Thessaloniki-based author Alexandros Aimoniotis.
Photos: Ingo Duennebier

Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki
Greece
30 January 2015

Artists:
Mats Bigert & Lars Bergström

Video:
Lars Siltberg

Author:
Alexandros Aimoniotis

Curator:
Lydia Chatziiakovou

Documentation:
Haris Pallas (video)
Ingo Duennebier (photography)

Explosion of Speech in Venice
Personal Structures. Crossing Borders
European Cultural Center, Global Art Affairs Foundation
[performance, video installation]

A few months after the performance in Thessaloniki, Artecitya presents Explosion of Speech in Venice, in the framework of the exhibition Personal Structures, organised by Global Art Affairs Foundation, under the aegis of the European Culture Centre.

"For Artecitya, Explosion of Speech is a call to arms. As performative and cinematic endeavour, the work cuts through time, space, individualities and realities. Its improvised urban scenography signals the city as the space par excellence where democracy is made possible, animated through polyphony, debate and conflict. The burning poetic word dethrones the slogans of politics as expression of the people’s voice, articulating dreams, aspirations, needs, prophecies, admonitions… In that sense, the work becomes an agency, even more so a peaceful call to arms or a vehicle of transformation, as it positions multiple individualities at a vantage point, that of an emancipated protagonist of a delightfully utopian film, projected into what could very well be the near future." (Lydia Chatziiakovou)

The second verse of the poem is by Italian poet and artist Alessandro de Francesco. 

ArtBOX would like to thank Global Art Affairs Foundation for their invitation.

[The Catalogue and the two Flyers]

Personal Sytructures. Crossing Borders
European Cultural Centre &
Global Art Affairs Foundation

[film]:
Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
Riva del Carbon #4793 (Rialto)
9 May - 22 November 2015
Opening hours: 10.00-18.00 (Tuesdays closed)
Preview: 7 & 8 May, 18.00-22.00
Admission free

[performance]:
Palazzo Mora, Venice, Italy
Strada Nuova #3659 (vaporetto stop Ca'D'Oro)
8 May 2015, 21:00
Admission free

Artists:
Mats Bigert & Lars Bergström

Video:
Lars Siltberg

Author:
Alessandro De Francesco

Curator:
Lydia Chatziiakovou

Picture
European Cultural Center, Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
Picture
Palazzo Bembo, Venice, Italy
Design by 707designers
artecitya_gr_in_venice_2015_flyer.pdf
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File Type: pdf
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The project is funded with support from the European Commission. 
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot 
be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.