Marie Civikov

Gebaseerd op een verhaal over mijn Javaanse overgrootmoeder Painem, verteld door mijn grootmoeder.

From the glossary Àngels Miralda wrote as part of a text and glossary for our exhibition at 'Being Embedded in Ulterior Layers': Ayam Ketawa. Is a breed of chicken originating in Indonesia. The name translates to “laughing chicken” due to its long crows that sound like human laughter. This type of chicken is seen as a symbol of courage and heroism. One of them is depicted on a painting by Marie Civikov and represents a family story from the Indonesian freedom fight for independence. Her grandmother Bertha recounted a story in Dutch which was translated to English by her great-aunt Marie: “The three-day war had started. We closed all of the shutters and windows and the front door. We figured the bullets would first have to penetrate those before they hit us. We put mattresses on the floor and during the shootings we would lie on those. There was plenty of food in the storage as well as a few free-range roosters and chickens. During breaks in the shootings we would prepare simple meals. On the second day, two armed guards entered the house - they were looking for men and arms. Uncle Franz had gone to stay elsewhere, but they searched the shelves. We stood by to make sure they would not steal our food as we needed this to sell and stay alive from the proceeds. They took one chicken and told us “this is your contribution to the freedom fight.” After that, Tante Mien sacrificed the rest of the chickens in case they came back to take more, at least we would have eaten them. We ate rice and fried chicken for the remaining days of war.”

‘Аз’, het Bulgaarse woord voor ‘ik’, klinkt fonetisch als Az. Met een Bulgaars accent zou het ook door kunnen gaan als het Engelse ‘us’. Het solistische ‘ik’ krijgt dan de paradoxale betekenis van het gemeenschappelijke ‘ons’. Gedurende onze vriendschap en samenwerking hebben Voin en ik op deze manier een vocabulaire ontwikkeld met een voor ons dubbele betekenis. ‘Azz’ (aangedikt met een dubbele ‘z’) was hier het eerste voorbeeld van. Hoewel wij in vele opzichten verschillen van elkaar als dag en nacht, voelen wij ons in de kern sterk met elkaar verbonden.

performance and installation with Voin de Voin and Andrew Fremont-Smith, Ruimtevaart Den Haag

Soft Power Palace, Kunstgebäude Stuttgart with Æther Sofia, an initiative by a.o. Akademie Schloss Solitude in collaboration with Voin de Voin and Andrew Fremont-Smith

performance and installation in collaboration with Voin de Voin, Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia (BG)

A cooperation/performance with Voin de Voin, bird suits, location pic, Sofia, 2017

Overzict solostand This Art Fair

Solo show at Structura Gallery, December 2022, Sofia