WORKSHOP: “33 MONSTERS” READING THEATRE: MASKS WORKSHOP
Workshop and participation in communal artwork with Eleonore de Montesquiou.
TALINN ART HALL invites to join for an immersive reading theatre based on “33 Monsters”, a fictional diary written in 1907 by Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal. The story explores the love between a young woman and an older woman in St. Petersburg, blending themes of feminism and queer relationships that resonate today. We invite young people fluent in Russian to engage with this text in a creative way, celebrating our freedom to explore themes of love and identity. Participants will craft their own masks and choose excerpts from the novel to read while wearing them, transforming this historical piece into a dynamic performance.
The creation process of the 33 Monsters reading theatre will be filmed and shared with the public!
Part 1: Masks Workshop
Date and time: 21/09/2024 from 16:00 in Lasnamäe pavilion (J. Koorti 24)
Led by: Varvara Toropkova and Nadya Tjuska
Participants will create personalized masks and select scenes from the novel for the performance. If you cannot attend the mask-making session, you are welcome to use masks made by others during the workshop.
Part 2: Reading Theatre & Filming
Dates and times: 24/09/2024 & 26/09/2024 at 17:00
With Eleonore de Montesquiou, Varvara Toropkova, Nadya Tjuska
Introduction by: Eleonore de Montesquiou, Rebeka Põldsam, and Jenny Zinovieff
Registrtion: https://forms.gle/Q2xESZnT4G9NisjX8
Eléonore de Montesquiou is a French-Estonian artist. Her work revolves around the articulation of private and official histories, personal and national identities. It tackles the intricacies and ambiguities of living in the margins, based on her personal experience of up-rootedness. Eléonore primarily works with video; she tapes testimonies, creating artificial memories of repressed histories. Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal was her great grand aunt. Eléonore’s films are distributed by Arsenal Experimental in Berlin and DAFILMS. For this work she has participated closely with Lucy Railton, Johanna Ruukholm, Varvara Toropkova and Jenny Zinovieff.
The workshop is part of the public program of the exhibition Difficult Pasts. Connected Worlds curated by Margaret Tali and Ieva Astahovska, delving into the themes of solidarity, empathy and the enduring legacies of historical trauma.
The exhibition includes works by artists from the three Baltic countries, as well as Ukraine, Poland, Finland, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands. Their works address the often-silenced and uncomfortable pasts in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. Recent wars have shifted our understanding of history and highlighted how present-day normalisation of violence often stems from unresolved traumas of the past. Difficult Pasts. Connected Worlds brings together these challenging, uncomfortable, and frequently overlooked histories, including violent conflicts, painful losses. and their long-term legacies.
The exhibition will be on display until 20/10/2024.
Further information: https://www.kunstihoone.ee/en/programme/difficult-pasts-connected-worlds/