Performance Art as Female Resistance: Maria Pinińska-Bereś and the role of re-enactments

Performance Art as Female Resistance. Maria Pinińska-Bereś and the role of re-enactments is a one-day symposium focusing on the Polish artist Maria Pinińska-Bereś (1931-1999). The symposium is organised in the context of Dorothé Orczyk’s curatorial and PhD research project “Performance Art as Female Resistance” on how performance art as a form of (political) resistance was and is used by Polish female performance artists who started their art practice during the Polish People’s Republic (1952-1989) and continued their practice after the fall of the Wall.

Performance art plays a significant role in Pinińska-Bereś’ work and the theme of women is central to her practice. An analysis of the work can provide unique insights into the possibly changed role of performance art as a (political) tool in connection to feminism, as well as the position of female artists. By studying the work of female artists who have experienced a regime change we can gain insights relevant to today’s circumstances now that women’s relative autonomy is again threatened.

Why did the artists use performance art? And what does this mean for the current generation of female artists? By comparing the working conditions and position of Polish female performance artists before and after the fall of the Wall it creates awareness for the kind of influence a regime change (neoliberalism versus socialism) can have on female performance artists’ practices. It demonstrates the relevance of performance art within art history, but also the position of these artists in the current socio-political context.

Dorothé Orczyk is a curator and a PhD candidate at UvA working on the curatorial and research project “Performance Art as Female Resistance”. The focus of her project is on if and how performance art was and is used as a form of (political) resistance by Polish female performance artists who started their art practice during the Polish People’s Republic (1952-1989) and continued their practice after the fall of the Wall. Orczyk previously worked as gallery director at Ellen de Bruijne PROJECTS and was co-founder and curator at the exhibition space ROZENSTRAAT - a rose is a rose is a rose in Amsterdam. Her curatorial interest is in performance art with a focus on socially engaged and feminist art practices.

Het AFK ondersteunt 'Performance Art as Female Resistance' via het Ontwikkelbudget.

Datum: 25-11-2023, 12.00 - 18.00 uur
Locatie: De Appel
Meer informatie: https://www.deappel.nl/en/archive/events/1221-art-as-female-resistance-maria-piniska-bere-and-the-role-of-re-enactments-symposium-organised-by-doroth-orczyk