Second edition:: re:production

After last year’s groundbreaking inaugural edition, A Performance Affair, the first art fair in the world entirely dedicated to performance art, is doubling its ambitions for this year. Taking place from September 5 to 8, 2019 in collaboration with Brussels Gallery Weekend, APA will transform not one but two floors of the iconic Vanderborght Building in the center of Brussels into an open, immersive performance space with a varied three-day programme.

This second edition, titled re:production, will attempt to determine the key elements necessary to perform, transcribe, document, transfer ownership and restage a performance. What is the collectable matter of a performance? How do the protocols, scenarios, recordings, or artefacts relate? How can video and other means of representation benefit the discipline?

“A Performance Affair is an important platform that will give a big exposure to performance art and the attention it deserves.”
Marina Abramović, artist, New York

“The questions raised by APA are pertinent to the contemporary art world right now in how we create space, as well as a market, for practices that fall outside of its narrow understanding of value. How ever can we be contemporary if we do not create opportunities for ephemera and performance that speaks to the here and now? I was impressed by many of the artists who applied with thoughtful presentations as well as practical ways for their work to live on.”
Aaron Cezar, founding Director of Delfina Foundation and co-curator of the performance programme of the 58th Venice Biennale, member of the APA selection committee, London

Consistent with the platform’s goal to trigger a performance art economy, the artworks are for sale. However, instead of focusing on the usual videos, props, and photo documentation, A Performance Affair places gesture and movement, and the performative act itself, at the center.

Participants
Kelvin Atmadibrata presented by Sepersepuluh / Mira Calix, Andjeas Ejiksson, Olaf Nicolai, Gluklya Pershina, Asad Raza, Sislej Xhafa presented by BOZAR / Ofri Cnaani presented by MLF | Marie-Laure Fleisch / Lúa Coderch presented by àngels barcelona / Alexandra Davenport / Meta Drcar presented by UN-SPACED / Stella Geppert / Lukas Hofmann presented by SVIT / Klára Kuchta / Antti Laitinen presented by La Patinoire Royale - Galerie Valérie Bach / Ariane Loze presented by Galerie Michel Rein / Anna Mancuso / Warren Neidich presented by Barbara Seiler / Dawn Nilo presented by Balzer Projects / Maria Pask presented by Ellen de Bruijne Projects  / Diogo Pimentao presented by Galería RocioSantaCruz, Irène Laub Gallery and untilthen  / Juan Pablo Plazas presented by Galerie Mieke van Schaijk / Nazia Andaleeb Preema presented by Performance Art Bangladesh / Maeve Rendle / Lieven Segers presented by Base-Alpha Gallery / Evann Siebens presented by Wil Aballe Art Projects | WAAP / Tobias Sternberg presented by krupic kersting || kuk / János Szirtes presented by Kisterem  / Salvatore Viviano aka Lisa Jäger

Special Projects:
Jelili Atiku presented by BOZAR / Claudia Comte presented by Gladstone Gallery / Kendell Geers / Christian Jankowski presented by Lisson Gallery / David Rickard presented by Cøpperfield / Marinella Senatore

Selection committee
Adam Budak, chief curator of the National Gallery (Prague, Czech Republic) / Ellen de Bruijne, gallerist (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) / Aaron Cezar, founding director of Delfina Foundation (London, UK) / Frédéric de Goldschmidt, collector (Brussels, Belgium) / Iordanis Kerenidis & Piergiorgio Pepe, collectors (Paris, France) / ORLAN, artist (Paris, France) / Chantal Pontbriand, art curator, critic, and art consultant (Montreal, Canada)

Background
A Performance Affair is a Brussels-based non-profit association with international outreach. Conceived and founded by Liv Vaisberg and Will Kerr, APA seeks to place key players in the same arena and at the same table, while presenting its activities live on its two APA channels. Ultimately, this 72-hour event aims to empower performance artists and change perceptions of performance art by showing works that can be acquired in a dynamic and immersive arena. Events are open to the public and free of charge.