“(Dis)Remembering”, in its essence is an autobiographical project linked to the problematic but still intimate relationship with my father and the memories encompassed with it.  The need to preserve them lead to the creation of an archive that became the cornerstone of the project and was seen as a material and metaphorical mechanism speaking about power– about maintaining power, about the power of the present to control what is, and will be, known about the past, about the power of remembering over forgetting.  It could be considered an exploration of other ways of experiencing the present, and thus of viewing the past.
 

“(Dis)Remembering” - a practice based research project-started within my studies in MA/MFA Choreographing Live Art at the University of Lincoln for the purposes of the course “Research and Development” . This project would pass different levels of development:

 

• Research, conceptualization and experimentation during the artistic residence at the Performing Arts Forum (P.A.F), with Pavlos Kountouriotis and Jan Ritsema as mentors.

• Dissemination, presentation and documentation in the context of four mini festivals which were held in the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre.

 

The initial theme of my research - construction and deconstruction of identity” was especially inspired by the reading of Slavoj Zizek: ”How to read Lacan” and of Alain Badiou: “Handbook of Inaesthetics”.

The starting point of my research (with autobiographical – autoethnographical characteristics) was my interest to investigate and explore the topic of identity in relation to the family constellations, how this family relationships and connections determine the construction of the personal identity.

During the period of the artistic residency in Performing Arts Forum (P.A.F), in the village st. Erme (France), I had the opportunity to go deeper, critically reflect on the creative process, built up the conceptual framework of the project and through experimentation to define how this research will proceed for the creation of a unified body of artwork. Also, technology and other media like video and photography, were used as supportive tools.

This investigation, exploration and the moments of crisis within the process, was concluded with a more clear conceptual direction. the connection of my research to identity became more subtle and the prevalent topics were my relationship with my father, the encapsulated memories of a personal archive and the exposure/sharing of an intimate material.

The research/project would be untitled : ”(Dis)remembering” and in this next phase included the creation of a series of performances presented in mini festivals at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre (University of Lincoln.

 

Specifically my approach and intention was towards a research through artistic practice centred on a studio project which would result in the production and presentation of an unified artwork. Additionally, documentation during the creative process has been taken as a significant component of the research.

As a result, within five months,  from August to December, I developed four performances , each of which was a reflection of the on- going development and investigation with regard to different aspects of the project.