Supported by The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in conjunction with The Naughton Gallery at Queen’s and the Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s, 50th Anniversary celebrations
Presents
The Art of Encounter
with
Black Market International
“The first principal of Black Market International is the privilege of encounter”
Michaël La Chance
On the occasion of Bbeyond’s 10th anniversary of continuous activities promoting performance art in Northern Ireland, we present a major event that crystallises principles that have held our philosophical and practical commitment to performance art. Bbeyond has made performance art a field of ‘encounter’ in which human acts and behaviour can find a creative, free expression, as well as engagement with social concerns in Northern Ireland, enlarging its participations, collaborations and cultural exchanges in an international context.
The Art of Encounter is the expression of an active awareness of the effects of human acts in the context of an unavoidable relational nature in the world. Aware of this, performance artists find a laboratory of encounter, creativity, observation and reflection in human interlinks.
For more than thirty years, Boris Nieslony, one of BMI founders, has researched, reflected on and experimented with one of the most universal concerns for humankind: the nature of human relationships and how performance art has developed, consciously or unconsciously, ways to approach this human ‘condition’. Black Market International is the clear expression of this concern… and the development of ideas around a meta-utopia of free human expression and harmony, in collaboration with all performance artists who have joined this laboratory of Encounter.
The 10th Anniversary of Bbeyond coincides with the 25th anniversary of the existence of BMI, in which Alastair MacLennan, one of the most prestigious performance artists in Northern Ireland and Europe, has collaborated for more than 20 years. In this way, we would want to honour his long commitment and his revealing and inspirational work. Thus, Bbeyond will make a triple celebration as initiation for future challenges in the development of performance art in this country.
Black Market International is a performance art entity formed by 12 artists from different countries: Germany, Switzerland, N Ireland, Mexico, Canada, Singapore, Finland, Holland and Italy. This variety forms a ‘rich’ spectrum of performance art tendencies and concepts.
The Art of Encounter would consist of the following activities over one week, from Mon 30th April to Sat 5th May:
- 2 workshops delivered by Jürgen Fritz and Dr Helge Meyer, both members of BMI. Including presentation of works by the participants.
- Solo performances by the 9 members of BMI and 8 local artists.
- BMI performance, 6 hours duration, from 12 noon, Sat 5th May, in Elmwood Hall, Queen’s University, with 3 artists as BMI guests.
- 4 Talks, Jürgen Fritz on BMI, Boris Nieslony, Alastair MacLennan and Dr Helge Meyer.1 Round table with BMI chaired by Nikki Milican.
Curated by Elvira Santamaría Torres and Alastair Maclennan
Coordinator Brian Patterson
For any further information contact Brian Patterson
Email: bbeyond@europe.com
Mobile: 07968643871.
Skype: brian_patterson1
This event is also supported by the following agencies: Goethe Institute, Finnish Embassy in London, Bbeyond and University of Ulster
http://bbeyondperformance.org/
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