Despina Zacharopoulou at the VIII VENICE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART WEEK 2023

Despina Zacharopoulou (SNF ARTWORKS Visual Arts Fellow 2021) presents her work “Courotrophe” at the VIII VENICE INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE ART WEEK 2023: DIGILABAIR | Emergencies of the Contemporary (European Cultural Centre – Palazzo Mora, Venice, December 15 – 17, 2023).

“Courotrophe” is a performance for the camera exploring the theme of ‘Body and Citizenship’ and how the maternal body might operate as a site for the passage from Nature’s world of violence and wildness to the world of the polis. The work’s starting point is the initiation to citizenship through the introduction to the use of language as it was formulated in theatrical/poetic and philosophical discourse. Accordingly, the performance’s title stems from one of the roles of Artemis in Ancient Greece: Kourotrophos (Greek: Κουροτρόφος, “child nurturer”) and Lochia (Greek: Λοχία, “belonging to childbirth”). Artemis was responsible for the delivery and upbringing of children from childhood to adulthood and civil life.

Concept, Performance, Video: Despina Zacharopoulou https://www.despinazacharopoulou.com
Text: Friedrich Nietzsche, “The Night Song.” Transl. to English by R.J. Hollingdale. Transl. to Greek by Despina Zacharopoulou.
Lights: Giannis Karounis.
Also featuring baby Nikolas-Zacharias Karounis.
Curated by Francesco Kiaìs – Gathering Around Performance (G.A.P.)
Co-funded by the E.U.

For more information and tickets, please visit:
https://veniceperformanceart.org/the-art-week/digilabair-2023

Also available on the Performance Art Video platform (P.A.V.):
https://performanceartvideo.org/videos/courotrophe/