ICHTHYOLATRY: A Hybrid Performance of Water Deities
at the 8th THESSALONIKI BIENNALE OF CONTEMPORARY ART
in Thessaloniki Performance Festival
Saturday 13 May, 9pm
After six successful sold-out performances in Greece and Portugal, “ICHTHYOLATRY: A hybrid performance of Water Deities”, conceived and directed by Eva Giannakopoulou, travels to Thessaloniki on the occasion of Thessaloniki Performance Festival in the framework of the 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art. The Thessaloniki Performance Festival will take place 09-13 May, 2023, at the MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts (Warehouse B1, Pier 1, Thessaloniki port area), under the title ”Green Dreams, Water Deities and Techno Divinations”. ICHTHYOLATRY will be presented on Saturday 13 May, at 9pm.
Inspired by the theorist Astrida Neimanis’ book “Bodies of Water” (2017), which introduces for the first time the concept of Hydrofeminism, according to which water, femininities, embodied practices and ecology are interconnected creating “new” future synergies, ICHTHYOLATRY is a hybrid performance with confessional elements about elderly, floods, fluids and menopause. It is based on research conducted in communities linked to rivers, lakes, torrents and groups of women, during the course of research and creative residency programmes carried out in Greece, Portugal and Italy.
The visual artist-director and the creative community jointly developed the dramaturgy and texts through personal confessions and interviews with individuals from the local communities of Piraeus (PCAI), Torres Vedras, Portugal (Artemrede) and Mondaino, Italy (L’arboreto), in such a way that their content is an intellectual co-creation of all participants.
If water is the element from which all organisms originate, how could we possibly return to this original state of existence, removing the boundaries between evolution, genes, history, culture and nature? The answer to this question is what ICHTHYOLATRY attempts to answer, bridging the “gap” between past, present and future, between human and non-human forms of existence, jellyfishes and dogs.
The eccentric creatures of ICHTHYOLATRY – a warrior, a post-human creature, a female phenomenon and a fish – will inhabit the space to take a dive into a dreamy ocean of fluid possibilities. This is a performance that “dives” into an immersive universe of emotional and underwater coalitions.
Are you ready to swim?
ICHTHYOLATRY is a co-production of PCAI (Greece), Artemrede (Portugal – in collaboration with the Municipality of Torres Vedras) and L’Arboreto (Italy) in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries: a Southern Coalition, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.
*The material of some costumes was created during a creative workshop with the audience attending the open rehearsal during the artist’s artistic residency at Teatro Dimora L’Arboreto (IT).
** The performance contains scenes of nudity and is recommended for those over 16 years old.
Direction and original concept: Eva Giannakopoulou Performers: Zoe Antypa, Eva Giannakopoulou, Calliope Voulgaroudi replacing original cast members: Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi, Evgenia Vacalopoulou) Texts: Eva Giannakopoulou Lighting design: Nyssos Vasilopoulos Sound design: Pedro Pascoal Costumes design: Eva Giannakopoulou, Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi and Evgenia Vacalopoulou Costumes construction: Eva Giannakopoulou, Marianita Karakosta, Eva Koliopantou, Maroula Papanastasi, Evgenia Vacalopoulou Μasks design and construction: Stefanos Chandelis
More about Thessaloniki Performance Festival
Activity aligned with Goals 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 16, 17
