The monographic exhibition Five Short Stories by Egle Oddo, and curated by Lea Vene, will open on the 12th of November 2020 at GMK. The exhibition includes open air performances on 13/11/2020 and an online debate open to the public on 14/11/2020 at the headquarters of the Zmag association in Vukomerić.
For this exhibition Oddo presents a non-linear narrative including elements of her long-term trans-disciplinary research, focused on plant seeds seen as elements asserting their way through the relations inter-species and vital balances regulating the biosphere.
Observing the lives of scientists and activists involved in the conservation of seeds, Oddo conceived five fictional characters who have a common destiny, establishing a communication between human perception and plants. During a series of public performances, Oddo shares imaginary actions drawn from the life of those characters. The objects displayed in the gallery are fragments of their existence and bear traces of the characters’ tactile experience.
Oddo uses the title Five Short Stories exclusively in her solo shows, and in doing so resumes a long research that began twenty-three years ago, in 1997. Oddo’s solo shows are rare. Being aware that most ideas and concepts move intensely in the hybrid spaces of digital communication, the artist usually chooses to merge her action within a choral project (as in the case of the Myymälä2 gallery and Pixelache Helsinki), or to put it in communication with other artists as in the case of Collective Intelligence for Manifesta12.
The performance series is part of the Performative Habitats project supported by the Italian Council (8th Edition, 2020) program to promote Italian contemporary art in the world by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism.
Exhibition is open until 12/12/2020.
The project is supported by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, City of Zagreb, ZMAG, Italian Council, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation.
The project is realized thanks to the collaboration with the STEBICEF Department of Palermo University and the CBBC – Center of Biotechnology of Borj Cedria.
Locations and dates:
12/11/2020, Five Short Stories opens at the GMK
13/11/2020, performances (Marticeva street and outside the Meštrović Pavilion, the Croatian Association of Artists)
14/11/2020, online debate, conducted at Zmag association (Vukomerić 23/3, 10418 Dubranec)
The program may be subject to changes due to the health emergency.
GMK is supported by INA, Foundation Kultura Nova, Erste Solidarity Fond and Foundation for Arts Initiatives.
Photography by: Antti Ahonen