The 7th edition of the biennal festival VIVA! Art Action (Sept 25-28, 2019), taking place at Ateliers Jean Brillant, provides the public with an accessible and convivial context in which to encounter performance art in its most striking and avant-garde forms. See the full proramming here.

This year, articule presents artists Kamissa Ma Koïta (Montreal) on September 26, and Nezaket Ekici (Berlin) on September 27. articule thanks its collaborators AXENÉO7, Studio 303 and the Goethe-Institut.

Kamissa Ma Koïta is a trans-activist and an Afro-descendant of Malian origin. Born in Quebec City, he grew up in Montreal. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual and Media Arts at the Université du Québec à Montréal (2015) and is involved in various artist-run centres in Montreal. From a queer and decolonial perspective, he questions the vectors of social domination, focusing more particularly on the condition of subaltern groups. His performative work has been presented at Skol (2017), La Centrale (2017), Dare-Dare (2018) and the UQAM Gallery (2018). Kamissa has also presented his work in several galleries including Centre Never Apart (2019) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2018).

Born in Turkey in 1970, Nezaket Ekici has lived in Germany since 1973. She holds an MA in Art Pedagogy, and has studied Art History and Sculpture at the LMU and Fine Arts Academy Munich. She studied Performance Art under Marina Abramovic at the Braunschweig University of Art, where she also received an MFA Degree. Nezaket’s artworks derive from multiple subjects, including everyday situations, her dual-cultural background, and art history. Her confrontations with the ordinary allow her to explore the social and cultural atmospheres in which she operates. These confrontations are then translated and expressed as performances, installations and video art. The subjects she deals with are related to time, movement, space, material, body, action and interaction. She uses her body as a means of expression and investigation, and always keeps her works in relation to the audience. She has presented more than 200 different performances in 4 continents and over 50 countries. Ekici is presented with support from the Goethe-Institut. 

→ 3-day workshop by Nezaket Ekici in collaboration with Studio 303: Food as a source of inspiration for performances, Sept 29-Oct 1, 2019. More info and registration here.

→ Following VIVA! Art Action and her workshop at Studio 303, Ekici will be in residency at AXENÉO7 in Gatineau, QC Oct 2-11, 2019. 

Special projects  

Participating Artists: Kamissa Ma Koïta (MTL) Nezaket Ekici (BLN)
Curator(s):
Credits: Kamissa Ma Koïta, Ohm (avec Marie-André Poulin), 2015. Photo: François Fréchette, Nezaket Ekici, Bollenhut, 2018. Vidéo: Branka Pavlovic et Julian David Bolivar