Re Aphrodite
Re Aphrodite is an independent group of practitioners and researchers (initially Cyprus related) focusing on issues of gender, social difference, and other political and social paradoxes through research, educational, curatorial, and creative practices. The initiative first emerged in 2010 out of the joint research interests of Chrystalleni Loizidou and Evanthia Tselika, focusing on public and socially engaged art practices.
It has since been developing into a porous collective that works on projects that relate to issues of silenced herstories, migratory processes, communities, and learning and ritual practices of everyday life. For more information about the different projects of the collective visit:
https://www.reaphrodite.org/home
In 2016-2018 together with Athina Antoniadou Re Aphrodite developed the project Shrines-Habits, an initiative that was shaped by an exploration of exchanges with peoples and communities in the public space of the Nicosia Municipal Garden for a period of six months in early 2016. This resulted in a further iteration of the project within and outside the Contemporary Art Museum of Niterói in Rio de Janeiro, as part of the international exhibition Guanabara Bay: Hidden Lives and Waters, 2016 (curated by Luiz Guilherme Vergara) and in a communal kitchen revival at the Shelley residence in Pafos, as part of the international Plánetes Exhibition in 2017 (curated by Elena Parpa). The project culminated in a publication entitled Words of Transition. Rites, circles, triangles and water with contributions by Cypriot and Brazilian artists and scholars. The publication can be downloaded from here- https://85d0252c-c693-459e-a7ca-711367e6f152.filesusr.com/ugd/126dd3_7a3b543bfbd8418fb02d6742e6287f82.pdf
During this project we stitched together what Luiz Guilherme Vergara called The quilt of everyday miracles, a large circular cloth which has since then hosted picnics, civic gatherings, discussions, academic conferences, university classes, rituals, and friendships.
A series of images from this project can be seen here.
