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2 days for 6 hours in two sites: The Nash Room,
London and The Balcony Room, Belfast
2 42ft tables, green baize, 20 metres of natural Irish Linen, 2 banners
saying NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT TALKING, 2 sewing machines, 6 telephones,
4 fax machines, 2 videophones, 200 self portrait objects made by 25
children from Belfast, plastic bags.
conversing with audience, stitching linen strips together, conversations
between cities by members of audience.
additional performers: Fiona Seagrave and Lizzie Devlin
The Zwillinge Project's Episode 9 Belfast (London) was
an important and significant event for the ICA to be involved in in a
number of ways. The project has been gathering apace and critical and
popular interest for a number of years and I felt it was important that
London and the ICA should be part of this developing project and growing
interest. Due to the particular nature of its form and content the project
was an ideal event for our Jezebel season of time based work looking at
the new artforms and issues being addressed by women artists in the 90s.
The Zwillinge Project is a fascinating cross artform project that is not
just a collaboration for the sake of it but a genuine meeting of practices
and ideas to create and influence cultural dialogues and develop new audiences
for new art.
Episode 9 was a project that embraced the possibilities of new technologies
not as an end in itself but as a means of cultural production and communication
- the ICA is committed to exploring the implications of new technologies
both within cultural practice and the broader formation of society and
these issues are at the heart of The Zwillinge Project Episode 9.
It was important for the ICA to be involved in a project that was presented
in real time collaboration with another venue and particularly one in
Northern Ireland. We value our national and international relationships
with likeminded organisations but rarely have the opportunity to be involved
in co-presentations let alone simultaneous co-presentations. Last, but
by no means least, the Zwillinge Project Episode 9 was that rare beast
- a radical contemporary artwork that both embraced and engaged with children.
For the ICA where it is very difficult for children to engage with much
of our programme,and for our revised Education /Interaction policy that
is much more focussed on younger audiences, a project that is rooted in
the needs of children and particularly those with special needs was invaluable.
The Zwillinge Project Episode 9 looked stunning in the ICA Nash Room and
was executed with absolute professionalism and care by both artists and
their assistants. The project was extremely well attended on both days
and even those who were initially reluctant to take part by picking up
a phone were soon dialling and chatting away.
Lois Keidan
Director of ICA Live Arts (1995)