Ekdysis
FOUGARO ARTCENTER, within the framework of the international conference Performing Space 2024 held in Nafplio, is hosting for the month of July the screening of the video art work entitled "Ekdysis" by Niya B.
Inspired by the myth of Tiresias, Ekdysis is a contemporary mythopoetic journey exploring personal narratives of gender transition and nonhuman kinship-making on Mount Kyllini, in the Northeastern Peloponnese.
Description
A snake dreams of a human. And vice versa.
In Greek mythology, the seer Tiresias was transformed into a woman for seven years for allegedly disturbing two copulating snakes on Mount Kyllini, in the Northeastern Peloponnese. Counteracting the linear, patriarchal way of manufacturing history, Niya B’s mythopoesis layers mythology, personal history and multi-species entanglements to retell the Tiresian myth through a poetic and performative journey of transformation.
Ekdysis is a scientific term referring to the process of shedding the external layer of the skin in reptiles. In this work, Niya B also executes her own ekdysis by shedding the imposed identities of nation, religion, class and gender. In this process, she engages in three ritual actions by performing a cathartic rite of passage on the top of the mountain, by stirring the layers of history hidden in the tranquil waters of the karst lake of Stymphalia, and by eventually finding embodiment in the form of a snake-woman.
Ekdysis is a multimedia project, consisting of live actions, moving image and installations. In this iteration, it manifests as a moving image work.
Niya B
Niya B is a multi-disciplinary artist working at the intersections of visual art and performance. She employs video, soundscapes, text, live acts, and immersive installations and technologies to explore themes of ecology, (trans)gender embodiments, class, mythology, and the knowledge held in the land and the performing body. Niya aims to establish intimacy with her audience, creating a meditative space of vulnerability, affect, and interdependence. Her work, rooted in personal lived experiences, seeks to
transcend representation and political polarisation, connecting with audiences of diverse experiences and identities.
Niya has showcased her work in numerous exhibitions, festivals, live art events, and academic conferences across the UK, including Tate Britain (London), CCA: Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow), Site Gallery (Sheffield), BOM (Birmingham), ONCA (Brighton), Performance Space (Folkestone), NEoN festival (Dundee), International Print Biennale (Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle), Goldsmiths University of London and the University of Leeds. Internationally, Niya’s work has been featured at Visioni Del Sud (Salento, Italy), the 5th and 8th Thessaloniki Biennale (Greece), the 2023 ΕΛΕVΣΙΣ European Capital of Culture (Greece), and the 5th Moscow Biennale (Russia). Niya’s projects have received support from Arts Council England, the British Council, Jerwood Arts and the Cultural Institute Leeds among others. In 2023, she became an artist-in-residence at BOM Immersive Lab.
Niya holds an MA in Landscape Architecture from the University of Sheffield and has over 13 years of experience in the field of landscape architecture and the public realm. Since 2018, Niya has focused exclusively on her art practice. In 2022, Niya was awarded a scholarship for a practice-as-research PhD at Kingston University’s School of Art in London, where she investigates the intersections of ecology and gendered embodiments across human and non-human subjectivities and sites.
IG: niya___b
FB: Niya.B.art
web: www.niyab.com
