In Response to Vulnerable Paradoxes
2021
Dayna Danger (Photo: L - Charles Cousin, R- Dayna Danger, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Kama La Mackerel (Photo: Pascha Marrow, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Malik Nashad Sharpe (Photo: Maurizio Martorana, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Marilou Craft (Photo: Julie Artacho, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Aisha Sasha John (Photo: Aisha Sasha John, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Lara Kramer (Photo: Charles Lafrance, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Milton Lim (Photo: April Leung, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Sonia Hughes (Photo: Kate Daley, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Burcu Emeç (Photo: Cedric Laurenty, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Mai thi Bach Ngoc Nguyen (Photo: Étienne Boisvert, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
nènè myriam konaté (Photo: Mallory Lowe, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Dana Michel (Photo: Richmond Lam, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Kathrin Tiedemann (Photo: Marvin Boehm, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Elena Stoodley (Photo: RFM Photography, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Kamissa Ma Koïta (Photo: L - Helena Martin Franco, R - Mariane Tremblay, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Po B.K. Lomami (Photo: Valérie Bah, Po B. K. Lomami, Claire Obscure, Graphic design: Kamissa Ma Koïta)
Visual identity and design: Kamissa Ma Koïta
Inspired by the roundtables that took place in 2020 at the OFFTA, In Response to Vulnerable Paradoxes invited the artists, witnesses and organizing committee to write about their experience in any way they wished, gathering the texts together in a free online publication. A vital compendium of writing and thinking about performance, politics and life. The publication launched with an online version of Jacob Wren and PME-ART’s Relay Interview form, allowing everyone to ask questions in response to each other’s contributions.
The event Vulnerable Paradoxes took place from May 27 to 30, 2020 as part of the OFFTA. What was originally meant to be an in-person series of roundtables was moved online due to COVID-19. We invited artists, chosen by a selection committee, to speak about performance. We wanted Vulnerable Paradoxes to be artist-driven and to allow the participants to speak of these matters in any way they chose. We wanted to generate a platform that would perhaps allow such matters to be spoken about in ways other than what we’re most used to.
This PDF publication is the second part of Vulnerable Paradoxes. We invited the artists, and a few others, to write about the conference — and the questions that surround it — in any way they wished. In this pandemic time, when considerably fewer live performances seem to be taking place, we thought a free PDF might be a useful way to circulate some writing and thinking about performance, politics, and life. It is not a magazine and not a book and, for us, this hopefully allows for a looser and more immediate engagement. (Also, a different kind of engagement from how we read all of the things we read or skim online.) Texts appear in their original language on the left side, translations on the right. Both parts of the project challenged us as they unfolded, and we hope they continue to open toward future discussions. For the rest, you can simply read it for yourself.
Texts by Aisha Sasha John, Burcu Emeç, Dana Michel, Dayna Danger, Elena Stoodley, Kama La Mackerel, Kamissa Ma Koïta, Kathrin Tiedemann, Lara Kramer, Mai thi Bach Ngoc Nguyen, Malik Nashad Sharpe, Marilou Craft, Milton Lim, néné myriam konaté, Po B. K. Lomami, Sonia Hughes. Translation and revision: Marie Claire Forté. Revision: Marilou Craft. Translation of Kama La Mackerel’s text: Kama La Mackerel. Proofreading: Olivia Tapiero, Saelan Twerdy. Visual identity and design: Kamissa Ma Koïta. Organizing and Editorial Committee: Burcu Emeç, Fabien Marcil, Jacob Wren, Kamissa Ma Koïta, Marie Claire Forté, Marilou Craft, Richard Ducharme, Sylvie Lachance. Coordination: Burcu Emeç.
Co-presented with LA SERRE — arts vivants (OFFTA). With the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the Canada Council for the Arts, Heritage Canada, and the Goethe Institute.