CELESTIAL BODIES 

We think of art as a mode of being with. 
Being with ourselves, being with each other, being with the environment around us, being with the troubles and pleasures that we witness all over and that we sense within us.  And accordingly, we consider art practices as fields of exploration and manifestation of alternate modes of perceiving and imagining (non) human concerns. As such, artistic practices can be powerful tools to nourish political imaginations that grow into the social realm. 

Celestial Bodies is dedicated to jointly opening spaces to explore meanings and practices of solidarity, care, empathy, and wonder. We consider fragility and vulnerability to be core qualities to be acknowledged on an individual as well as on a community level. Vulnerability doesn’t translate into negative connotations of weakness, it translates into becoming tangible as the subjects we are. To us, solidarity means to ally with each other’s vulnerabilities. 

We consider collectivity as a mode of bringing solidarity into action, of trusting into each other. We want to create safer spaces to experiment with ideas that become tangible as we share them and to grow in an environment of mutual support. We want to grow a community of artists with a focus on the journey rather than a specific outcome. A community in which one can learn from each other and, to speak in an Icelandic metaphor, just like moss, grow in all directions, slowly but surely. 

Celestial Bodies is dedicated to cultivating connections despite geographical distance and to nourishing the commitment of finding ways to reconnect over and over again. We place agency in the transformative potential of collective action.

Celestial Bodies was founded and is run by seven artists from seven different countries, with different pathways through artistic practices and experiences. We consider Celestial Bodies to be a celebration of that multiplicity as it reflects in a wide range of formats, questions, and methods. It is also a celebration of care, vulnerability, and taking space – themes that brought us together, made us discover each other, and that challenged us to explore the depth of working together.

TEAM

Lígia Soares and Paula Diogo (curatorship for Portugal) + Ellen Vanderstraeten, Elsa Mencagli, Íris Stefanía Skúladóttir, María Arnardóttir, Nora Tormann and Zofia Tomczyk (co-curators Celestial Bodies) + Daniela Ribeiro (executive production) + Wilma Moutinho (technical director)

To learn more: www.celestialbodies.art.