ICHTHYOLATRY

A Hybrid Performance of Water Deities

A co-production between Greece, Portugal and Italy in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries, co-funded by the Creative Europe

Polygreen Culture & Art Initiative (PCAI) presents “ICHTHYOLATRY: A hybrid performance of Water Deities”, a performance conceived and directed by Eva Giannakopoulou at the PLYFA Industrial Park on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 January, in co-production with Artemrede (Portugal – in collaboration with the Municipality of Torres Vedras) and L’Arboreto (Italy).
Inspired by the theorist Astrida Neimanis’ book “Bodies of Water” (2017), which introduces for the first time the concept of Hydrofeminism, according to which water, femininities, embodied practices and ecology are interconnected creating “new” future synergies, ICHTHYOLATRY is a hybrid performance with confessional elements about elderly, floods, fluids and menopause. It is based on research conducted in communities linked to rivers, lakes, torrents and groups of women, during the course of two research and two creative residency programmes carried out in Greece, Portugal and Italy, in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries: a Southern Coalition. The visual artist-director and the creative community jointly developed the dramaturgy and texts through personal confessions and interviews with individuals from the local communities of Piraeus, Torres Vedras, Portugal and Mondaino, Italy, in such a way that their content is an intellectual co-creation of all participants.
If water is the element from which all organisms originate, how could we possibly return to this original state of existence, removing the boundaries between evolution, genes, history, culture and nature? The answer to this question is what ICHTHYOLATRY attempts to answer, bridging the “gap” between past, present and future, between human and non-human forms of existence, jellyfishes and dogs.
The eccentric creatures of ICHTHYOLATRY – a warrior, a post-human creature, a female phenomenon and a fish – will inhabit the stage of the Plyfa Industrial Park and the stage of the Teatro Cine in Portugal to take a dive into a dreamy ocean of fluid possibilities. This is a performance that “dives” into an immersive universe of emotional and underwater coalitions.

Are you ready to swim?
* The performance is a new co-production of PCAI (Greece), Artemrede (Portugal – in collaboration with the Municipality of Torres Vedras) and L’Arboreto (Italy) in the framework of the European project Stronger Peripheries: a Southern Coalition, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. In 2023, ICHTHYOLATRY will also be presented in Portugal.

** The material of some costumes was created during a creative workshop with the audience attending the open rehearsal during the artist’s artistic residency at Teatro Dimora L’Arboreto (IT).

*** The performance will be presented in Greek with English surtitles. It contains scenes of nudity and is recommended for those over 16 years old.