In partnership with Despina, Canadian contemporary art center Diagonale, based in Montreal, has given a full grant to Romeo Gongora to participate in our Residency Programme in Rio de Janeiro.
During the month of November, the artist will develop his research on identity and clothing. One of his first actions will be the coordination of a workshop, whose purpose is to create a collection of clothes for an utopian society.
This admission for this workshop is free and it will be held at Despina (Rua Luis de Camões, 2 – downtown) on Wednesdays and Fridays, on 9, 11, 16 and 18 November, from 3 to 6 pm.
If you are interested in attending, send us an email to cursos@despina.org stating in the subject field “Workshop Romeo Gongora” and on the body of the email state your full name, contact number and a short bio. Applicants from all fields and backgrounds are welcome. Places are limited to 7 participants.
Awaken Dream. New Models of Identity
What would identity look like in a utopian world? A team of participants from Rio de Janeiro will be engaged with the artist to create a clothing collection for a utopian society. Some of the themes those workshops may research are: What is the meaning of ‘identity’ in a new utopian society? How will its new citizens dress? What kind of dress and behaviour code will they have? My participatory approach with the group of people will be based on Augusto Boal’s techniques of ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’, the notion of critical consciousness (as theorized by Paulo Freire), and Orlando Fals Borda’s techniques of participatory action research.
Info
Workshop “Awaken Dream. New Models of Identity”
with artist Romeo Gongora
When: 9, 11, 16 and 18 November, Wednesdays and Fridays
Time: 3 – 6 pm
Where: Despina
Rua Luis de Camões, 2 – Sobrado – Centro
About the artist
Romeo Gongora is a Canadian-Guatemalan visual artist. His participatory art works employs radical pedagogy to promote socio-political and human awareness. He has collaborated, amongst others, with the Rencontres de Bamako (Mali), CCA – Lagos (Nigeria), Centre of Art Torun (Poland), Festival Belluard (Switzerland), HISK (Belgium), The Office (Berlin) and Open School East (London). In 2007, he took up a two-year residence at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten (Amsterdam). In 2009, Romeo represented Canada as an artist in residence at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin) and at the Acme Studios (London) in 2016.
For more information
www.romeogongora.com
Credit of the image
Commun Commune, workshop, Rethinking motherhood through creation by Camila Vasquez, 2015, Lac Brome (CA), coproduction with 3e Imperial, centre d’art actuel
