Launch of “Ritual in Contemporary Performance”

Description:

Western Front hosted a book launch for Ritual in Contemporary Performance edited by Victoria Singh. 

The publication features interviews, documentation, and analysis of a series of performances curated by Victoria Singh from 2002 to 2003. The series was inspired by the public perception of performance art as “a flaky form of primitive ritual in execution and aesthetic,” and curated with the aim to investigate ritual in contemporary performance art. 

Singh introduced the event with a short talk that contextualized the publication, and involved a performative gesture in which she spoke to New York-based performance artist Linda Montano on speakerphone. This was followed by readings from catalogue contributors Julie Andrée Tremblay and Archer Pechawis, who also screened his work Belonging. 

A video compilation of the recorded performances was shown and is available upon request.