Ambiguous Bodies

On Saturday, 20 May 2017, 6:00pm, NeMe, the Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki and the Department of Fine Arts, Cyprus University of Technology invite you to Ambiguous bodies: timeless interpretations, a seminar at the Pefkios Georgiades Auditorium, Cyprus University of Technology and the opening of the exhibition curated by Areti Leopoulou, at NeMe Arts Centre at 8:30pm. During the exhibition opening there will be a performance by Alexandros Plomaritis.

Using texts by Diane Bolger (Beyond Male/Female: Recent Approaches to Gender in Cypriot Prehistory) as a starting point, Areti Leopoulou was invited by NeMe to curate an exhibition and seminar which responds to the historical preconceptions of Cypriot Figurines from the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. Leopoulou has selected works by Cypriot and Greek artists which have inherent, although in some cases, oblique references to ancient gendered figurines whilst remaining clearly within a contemporary critical and interdisciplinary platform.

Excerpt from Curator’s text
From prehistory to today, probably the most common, simple, and yet complexed element of nature, is the human body; the ultimate fountain for any identity and the structure of every civilisation. Thus, from the vague (yet also open to interpretation) representations of antiquity and up to the 3rd wave of Feminism and to Post-modernism, gender, body and its ambiguous or clarified identity, remain fundamental issues, constantly revolving their interpretive and sociological strategies.

Using as an inspirational foundation the Cypriot prehistoric figurines, and in particular the notable lack of clarity regarding their gender indications, more than 13 artists, assuming the role of “creative archaeologists”, are invited to creatively approach this major interpretive issue, which today employs to a large extent, post-cultural theory: gender, the body and its sex, the ambiguity (or refusal) of gender, as it has been shaped and formed for centuries.

The speakers and artists were invited to de-construct existing stereotypes and to shape their own fertile arguments on historical and contemporary controversial gender identities in context to Third Wave feminist theory.

*This exhibition will also travel to the Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki (CACT) during January 2018.

Exhibition
Venue: NeMe Arts Centre, Limassol, Cyprus

Opening: 20th May 2017, 8:30pm
Duration: 20th May – 3rd June 2017

Opening Days/Hours:
Monday-Friday, 17:30-20:30; Saturday, 10:00-13:00

Curator: Areti Leopoulou
Participating Artists: John Bardakos, Glitch Artists Collective, Vaso Hadjoulli Sergiou, Elina Ioannou, Niki Kanagini, Akis Karanos, Maria Lianou, Virginia Mastrogiannaki, Natasha Papadopoulou, Michalis Papamichael, Alexandros Plomaritis, Charalambos Sergiou, Panikos Tembriotis

Organisers: NeMe & Contemporary Art Centre of Thessaloniki (State Museum of Contemporary Art – The Costakis Collection)

Seminar
Venue: Pefkios Georgiades Auditorium, Cyprus University of Technology
Date: 20/05/2017, 18:00-20:00
Moderator: Areti Leopoulou
Speakers: Diane Bolger, Evanthia Tselika, Diana Georgiou
Language: English
Organisers: NeMe & Department of Fine Arts, Cyprus University of Technology