Opinion article on live performance "Ω3"

By Giota Mourettou, Head of Research & Development of CIP - Citizens In Power

Initiating his performance at the center of Eleftherias Square, visual artist PASHIAS placed his soul and his body, reminiscent of ancient Greek sculpture, exactly where the heart of our city beats, taking our breath away and captivating every kind of passerby, contemplative or not, experienced or not, in regards to this kind of spectacle. Perhaps, this was because there were so many ways and so many elements with which one could potentially identify. His body, half human and half disguised as a foreign and bizarre sea creature, magnetically attracted locals and immigrants alike, creating for them a common experience and a shared sense of belonging, proving - at last - that yes, harmonious coexistence with 'the other' may not be so dangerous, painful or forbidding. That social inclusion, interculturalism and acceptance of diversity may not be an unattainable - for us - dream and that public space, if properly utilised, can embrace and unite without excluding or alienating.

The artist crawls on the ground, steaming from the sun of May, causing cuts on his body - but no wavering in his soul - making the impossible seem achievable. With absolute discipline and dedication to his goal and vision, he approached the being he embodied for one hour, with unstoppable consistency and staggering precision, facing it with unparalleled respect, love and loyalty. Moving from the upper to the lower levels of the Square and whilst expanding his presence more and more, eventually, he moved harmoniously within the Square fountain, crossing it with absolute grace and fluidity, remaining focused on the psychological state and the quality characteristics of his ‘being’. Through a route that was not at all pretentiously didactic, he taught us - without ever having to signal or whisper to us - how it is to defy the Lestrigons and the Cyclops. What it's like to adapt and interact according to the situation of your audience, remaining flexible, without getting caught up in the apparent assurance and false pleasure provided by your comfort zone. What it's like to move on another level and conquer, not only Cyprus, but the world, breaking all kinds of borders and norms. And to achieve all this, whilst at the same time succeeding in moving people.

Opinion article on live performance "Ω3"

By Vasilia Anaxagora, Visual Artist/PhD Candidate (University of Cyprus)

It's 17:00 on a Sunday afternoon - not an ordinary afternoon in our small Mediterranean island, but an afternoon celebrating transformation, choice, identity and belonging. A small crowd gathers at the open space of Eleftherias Square in Nicosia, slowly growing in number. Everyone's attention is focused on what appears - at first sight - to be a human body in the centre of the Square. I observe. The PASHIAS' performance, with the body as its central axis, is constantly transforming and being transformed - into a fish, into a human, into me, like me, you, them and everything.

The crowd follows, observes, and I, influenced by the significance of art beyond any conventions, cannot help but stare at the crowd, whilst, through their gaze, they converse with the creator's body, sometimes critically, sometimes with compassion. No one leaves. They continue to follow the body as it crawls across the floor, from the upper terrace of Eleftherias Square to the lower level. Allowing and accepting that your body does not belong to a social ensemble, crawling far from water, seems like a painful process, but the body can and does continue to push. The mind sustains it.

In process, the body jumps from one area to another. It stops, observes for some time, understanding the space and pushes forward. What a proud reality it can be to exist in an ensemble, with the identity you have defined, with all eyes on you, and you keep moving forward.

As the crowd kept growing, suddenly the creator's body was not the only one out of water. Identities no longer mattered, we were all and everything confronted with the otherness we carry within us, no matter where we come from.

"Ω3" was, and is, a 'queer' perspective that allows us to question the dominant position in which the body usually finds itself, outside of the museum and institutions. The moment that the creator dragged his body, both human and foreign - human until the waist and fish below - on the ground, moving through the water, opened up another world for us. In the gazes that stared critically, until another normality was laid bare, that the body was never specific, but it belongs to all of us, persistently trying to homogenize ourselves with the crowd and constantly failing. That's why it was a celebration. A celebration of transforming them, us and everyone.

The publicity of public art

By PASHIAS

Art takes shape everywhere. As the recipients of artworks, however, we have learned to attribute the title and significance of the work of art within the white cube of a gallery or a museum. Specifically, the art of performance - live art bearing the human body as its primary material - historically emerged as the artist's reaction to the institutionalization, categorization and commodification of creative expression. Therefore, the body as an art tool, took place outside the museum walls, in public space, in common view, often without notice, invigilation and explanation. The Taiwanese artist Tehching Hsieh in his work "One Year Performance 1981-82", vows to live in New York City, only and always in public space for an entire year. An illegal immigrant, at the time, without shelter and a roof for protection. In "Paradox of Praxis I" (1997), Belgian Francis Alÿs pushes a huge ice cube with his hands, through the streets of Mexico, until the ice melts completely and disappears. A promenade process lasting nine hours documents the city's living conditions.

Turning attention to our country, considering the publicity of art and public art in particular, it seems that the practice of performance is not placed with the same frequency in outdoor spaces. Alÿs' ice cube would melt in thirty minutes on the newly renovated Makarios Avenue. With the excuse of high summer temperatures, the intensive use of personal transportation means, even for the shortest distances, and the consumerist culture cultivated by the 'Mall', Cypriots can be identified as citizens disconnected from the city. Accustomed to confinement, in a protective shell, literally. Unaccustomed to perceiving the unknown, often closed off to public space stimuli, from nature or the artificial environment. Therefore, art does not often take place in the public landscape of Cyprus. Unless, it bears the form of a marble sculpture commemorating a historical event or personality, as an immovable and harmless construct.

Cyprus' cultural scene consists of a large number of remarkable creators. Marginalized by the state system of insurance and funding, several of them have chosen to take a public stand with their work, experiencing different and diverse reactions. Acclaimed artist Lia Haraki presents her own unicorn on the streets of Old Town Nicosia, as part of Kypria International Festival 2019, in an effort to unify and vibrate citizens. The joy and colourful characters of the contributors, faced next day's critique and criticism as to the appearance of art, rather its sentiment. Live art in public spaces is an explosion, a form of protest, an act of advocacy, an intervention and a disturbance. For example, in 2012, the heads that make up the Liberty Monument in Nicosia, were anonymously covered in the colourful hoods of activist group Pussy Riot, sentenced to prison for disturbing public order in Russia.

On a personal level, I've chosen public space as the context and content of my artistic practice several times. The "Des Châtaignons" square in Lodève and the "Saint-Hilaire" church yard in Bazoches, as a creator, the series of live actions "Ta Demosia" in the streets of Ioannina and "DIS-PLAY" in the vacated shops of Mavrokordatou Street in Athens, as a curator. In Cyprus, until now, I've had the courage, the audacity or the opportunity to act in public only once. In 2021, the live performance "DAME" is presented as part of "Buffer Fringe Festival". Buried, planted in a public parking lot, next to an emblematic palm-tree, I invite audience members to drive, park and watch from their cars. Periodically, I reveal a green smoke-grenade, raising it to the sky, hoping to reach the palm-tree's height or to unify the action's witnesses in a smoke cloud. This year, on Saturday - 27th of May, I'm presenting the live performance "Ω3" in the centre of Eleftherias Square at 17:00, as part of Nicosia International Festival. Divided in half, as a 'fish out of water', within Zaha Hadid's organic architecture, I invite you to continue our discussion on public art, acceptance and diversity.

Ω3: Live performance by PASHIAS

Press Release, May - 2023

The Nicosia International Festival steps away from the theatre stage and joins you at the centre of the newly renovated Eleftherias Square, on Saturday May 27th at 17:00, to experience together the live performance "Ω3" by internationally renowned artist PASHIAS. This innovative work exhibits the artist's body divided in half, in the form of a mythical and 'foreign' creature that does not belong and does not fit in with the social ensemble. Embodying the idiom ‘fish out of water’, the artist interacts with Zaha Hadid's organic architecture, maps out his own public route towards his natural element and invites audience members to follow in an open dialogue centred on diversity.

With more than ten years of intensive practice, Cypriot visual artist PASHIAS has established his name synonymous with performance art. His body has been exhibited live, through video and photography or in the form of sculpture, countless times, each time in a different shape, image and idea. Bearing the relationship between an individual and their social environment as his thematic axis, PASHIAS always explores inventively and effectively the way we communicate and coexist in a common space and time. His works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions, as well as international festivals in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Russia, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Bulgaria, Turkey, Belgium, Brazil and Canada. More specifically, PASHIAS has collaborated with cultural organisations, such as the Marina Abramović Institute, SESC São Paulo, Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art and Mediterranean Biennale of Contemporary Art. 

Organisation: Nicosia International Festival

Curation: Maria Efstathiou

Sponsors: Laminam - Superior Natural Surfaces, CIP - Citizens In Power

* Saturday, May 27th 2023 / Starting time: 17:00 / Eleftherias Square - Nicosia / Free entrance