Antonija Livingstone
Nadia Lauro Études hérétiques 1-7

« If we do not have any heretics of our own, we must invent them, for heresy is essential for our health and growth… Our symbol of belief is that of heresy. »
Yevgemy Zamyatin, XXth century Russian writer

Armed with their dandy, feminist sensitivities, Antonija Livingstone and Nadia Lauro breath new life into the rarely-used format of the symposium, and use it as a basis for reliving forgotten ambitions and saucy pleasures. They make use of the format’s social and physical architecture in order to stimulate the sharing of wisdom and the culture of enthusiastic citizenship. The playing space they construct is one of tenderness, and of a renegotiation of our own realizations, and of how we view life’s never-ending mysteries. As they point out, vitality is the name of the game: “In ancient Greece, a symposium was a bringing together of cheery, well-meaning queers. A meeting place between aristocrats for the sole of purpose of drinking wine, philosophizing, seducing and educating their young lovers. The image of Logos, Pathos and Eros comes to mind, gathered around forms of light entertainment such as poetry, dance and music, a mechanism for crafting enlightened, fully-rounded citizens. Les Études hérétiques 1-7 have been designed to be presented either one at a time or together, in polyphony. A queer habitat of sensorial intelligence develops in real time. Solitary, recalcitrant gestures, invited craftspeople, and last but not least, a chorus of Amazons, all put in an appearance. The ensuing, all-inclusive choreography is a throughly lucid one, doted with wyrd care and a wyrd temporality.”