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ANTIDOTE
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DANCING WITH THE DEAD

Khadim Ali, Soojin Chang, Dr. Fiona Foley, Dr. Mojgan Habibi, Pieter Hugo, Lindy Lee, Pierre Mukeba, Sarker Protick, Stanislava Pinchuk, Jemima Wyman

Presented in partnership with the Lock-Up, Newcastle

June 20 – August 9, 2020

 

Named after the infamous Madagascan/Malagasy ritual of Famadihana, Dancing with the Dead presents ten National and International contemporary artists whose narratives illuminate the convergence of memory and corporeality within a larger constellation of death and its surrounding multitudes — physical death, spiritual death or cultural death.

The traditional Madagascan process sees families and loved ones exhuming bodies from tombs, carefully re-wrapping, then lovingly dancing with their corpses. Dancing with the Dead takes this context as a point of discussion to give light to the intersection of death, society, intimacy and culture; and to furthermore approach death with a stronger sense of nuance, allowing the potential to view aspects of dying, regeneration and endings as transgressive metaphors. It is sombre, yes — but it is also transformative, let us re-imagine death.

Dancing with the Dead presents a timely and deeply meaningful proposition for sharing in a communal and cathartic activity, that shines light on the paradoxically unique and universal experiences of death and endings. Each artist in this exhibition brings a specific layer, texture and approach to this collective dance.

Press:

  • Mutual Art
  • RUSSH
  • Art Guide
  • Art Almanac
  • Newcastle Herald

Essays:

  • David Hansen – La mort apprivoisée
  • Curatorial Essay – Grace Partridge and Emma-Kate Wilson

 

 
Installation Photography by Fourth Street Studio.
And finally, our last program announcement for 202 And finally, our last program announcement for 2021. We are thrilled to be supporting Gabrielle Goliath's 2-channel video & sound installation at the upcoming @kochibiennale — entitled 'Chorus'.
✨ 
In Chorus, members of the University of Cape Town choir sound a lament for Uyinene Mrwetyana who was raped, tortured and killed in August 2019, and whose murder sparked public outcry across South Africa. They lament not as song, but as the internally generated resonance of a hum, collectively sustained as a mutual offering of breath. In the utter loss marked by this labour, a certain recuperative gesture is nevertheless achieved, in the communal recognition of black feminine life. The performance sits, however, in uneasy relation to the stark absence of an empty rostra – an absence marked by the names of those whose lost lives similarly call for the long, collective, and as we must hope, transformative work of mourning. Please swipe for a more detailed statement >>. 

Image: Chorus, 2020, 2-channel video & sound installation, 23mins 29secs. Courtesy of the artist @gabriellegoliath and @goodman_gallery.
With a well renowned and arresting visual language With a well renowned and arresting visual language, Honey Long and Prue Stent’s practice boasts a unique and mesmerising merge of photographic and sculptural disciplines. Their work is undoubtably corporeal but also beautifully disembodied — and though quite recognisable, their aesthetic seems to always cleverly shake off the political discourse/s most ‘female’ art has ascribed to it. We are thrilled to announce that we are supporting the production of a new body of work from the duo later in 2021, and can’t wait to see what thought provoking, playful and symbolically rich work they create. 🤍💌 Pictured ‘Fis-net II’, 2017, courtesy artists and @arconegallery
We have posted about @jeddadaisyculley before so y We have posted about @jeddadaisyculley before so you will know her well! We are thrilled to announce formally that 2021 will see Antidote’s Artistic Director, Gracie Partridge, work closely with Jedda to produce a major work that combines her painting, weaving and performance practice. Watch this space 🔥🌪
In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing.
About the dark times.
—Bertolt Brecht
 
Developed in consultation with CAN (Clergy Abused Network Maitland), ‘Testimonial’ is an exposition of the profound effect of sexual abuse within the Church. Created from conversations with survivors and family, ‘Testimonial’ will bear witness to their stories, acknowledging trauma and celebrating resilience through words, music, and a renewed sense of congregation. Documenting the meetings and in consultation with each participant, Artistic Director Gracie Partridge will then create and record musical / video vignettes, comprised of both vocal composition and verbatim accounts, that will ultimately become a 2-channel video presentation. The work aims to be multi-layered: for them, their family, community and the world at large, who can only benefit from further understanding and processing of the injurious impacts of breaching the trust of a child. This project is in early stages so if you are interested in supporting it, please contact us via our website or reach out here. 💌 A huge thank you to CAN and Robert O’Toole for the support so far. ✨
In 2021, Antidote Projects and Soojin Chang will e In 2021, Antidote Projects and Soojin Chang will explore the prostheses of care that expand kinship beyond biological relatedness. Blurring durational performance and speculative research, the project will take place in Ulleongdo, a South Korean island, and is led by a human-nonhuman chimeric character developed by Chang in their ongoing work on multispecies diaspora. The chimera, along their journey to find belonging and a commune of similar “monstrosities”, will request a dialogue with a 무당 (Mudang or sorceress) on the issues of surrogate humanity, labors of care, and the radical act of falling in love with one another. An intersectional alliance in motion, the performance and video work contemplates modular forms of collectivity and solidarity active among those whose “wholeness” have been troubled from the start. ✨ Photographer @karoliskaminskas
Kawita Vatanajyankur is a longtime favourite of @w Kawita Vatanajyankur is a longtime favourite of @weareantidote and we are thrilled to represent her Nationally, since 2018. After a spectacular solo presentation at the Museum of Contemporary Art Bangkok @mocabangkok this year, which exhibited an Early Career Retrospective of her works — Kawita is now working to create and present her latest series in 2021. 'Field Work' is a continuation of research from her ‘Performing Textiles’ series (2018-2019) in which she focused on the disastrous impact of the fashion industry to the workers behind the mass production. However, this series works to reveal that it does not only affect the lives of the laborers, it also exploits the workers behind each of the production processes including the farmers within the agriculture industry. Pictured: Antidote Projects commissioned work 'Sickle', HD video, 2020. ✨

© ANTIDOTE 2021. Site by NOMAD.