Anchan/Anna Daučíková
Video work, Anna Daučíková, 7:11 min, 2021 (Tamarra and Anchan)
Excerpt of Anna Daučíková, 2021, Two-channel HD video, color, sound, 33 min. It is based on an online performance by Anchan and Tamarra, Yogyakarta-Prague, 24.09.2021.
Sign Language translations by Dana Cermane
open videos in a new tab (International and German DGS)
Pandemic Afterword
My experience of seclusion in pandemic years re-introduced for me questions I had left unanswered before. It revolved around an urge for stepping over and out of existing settings of life and, particularly, my artistic practice. One of them was understanding my practice as prevailingly a solitary production, based to a large extent on autopoiesis, a system operationally closed to my own means of expression (my body, my camera, my space).
The invitation to ESOK Biennale in Jakarta by Grace Samboh was for me both an opportunity to start anew, and to reach out, so to say. It brought in a challenge to work at a distance and in immediacy of visual connection via monitor screen with someone, an artist or an activist. A person I know little about and whom I invite for communication. E-encounter with Tamarra brought into our project a completely different perspective. Except sharing queer and nonbinary experience it was first and foremost a richness of content. Our approach was based on two principles: improvisation and equality balance in participation.
The language was immediately a shared neuralgic point. We shared mistrust to dominant languages, and it opened question of queer expression. It was a trigger to turn to gesture, to an attempt for prelingual state of communication. Our piece is a record of an exchange of intensities between the two of us, verbal and nonverbal acts as an exercise in communication consisting of adjectives and verbs. We believe that our video piece can be interpreted also as a contribution to further explorations of non-binary qualities.
Bios
Anchan/Anna Daučíková is a pioneer of feministqueer art in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Teaching for many years at art academies in Bratislava and Prague, she counts to the most influential forward thinkers in the area of queer theory and practice. In her videoart the engagement of artist´s body and bodily action became her main concern in presenting her queer statements. Alongside her artistic work she was a cofounder of and activist in several women and feminist organizations and in 1990s a spokesperson for LGBT+ rights in Slovakia. Since 1991 Daučíková exhibited internationally: 2022 Secession Vienna; 2021 Jakarta Biennial, ARTIUM Museoa in Vitoria Gasteiz; 2019 KunstWerke Berlin; documenta14 Kassel and Athens.
Tamarra (b. Tasikmalaya, West Java, 1989) is a self-taught artist who is now studying at the University of Sanata Dharma, Yogyakarta, majoring in history. Tamarra moved to Yogyakarta in 2008 and worked as a street busker and sex worker until 2013. Between 2011-2013, Tamarra joined an arts project titled Makcik Project which initiated a personal work in the field of visual arts. Tamarra’s works discusses the issues of gender and sexuality, the histories of non-binary people in Indonesia, religion and humanity. Tamarra has been involved in various arts projects and exhibitions, among them (selected): Ancient MSG (2015) at Gertrude Contemporary, Australia; Unsung Museum (2016-2017) at Roh Projects in Jakarta and Ruang Gerilya (Bandung); ‘Calabai Janggeng’, a collaborative research presentation with Emma Frankland on Bissu, commissioned by British Council (2019); Biennale Jogja XV – Ekuator #5: ‘Do we live in the same playground?’ (2019); Jakarta Biennale (2021) ESOK; and ARTJOG MMXXII Expanding Awarness (2022).
Dana Cermane lives in Berlin and is an actress, presenter, activist and blogger – she runs a successful Instagram channel. She is also a presenter on the TV show Sehen statt Hören. Dana is a member of the Berlin youth association “Jubel3” and is part of the queer section of the German Deaf Youth Association.
Dana Cermane lebt in Berlin und ist Schauspielerin, Moderatorin, Aktivistin, Bloggerin – auf Instagram betreibt sie einen erfolgreichen Kanal. Außerdem ist sie Moderatorin bei der TV-Sendung Sehen statt Hören. Dana ist Mitglied im Berliner Jugendverein \”Jubel3\” und in der Deutschen Gehörlosen Jugend e. V. Teil der Referatsgruppenleitung für Queer.
