© Ilektra Fragiadaki

Concept, creation: Danae Theodoridou

In collaboration with: Ilektra Fragiadaki, Betina Panagiotara, Efrosini Protopapa, Manos Vavadakis, Katerina Zisoudi

Performed by: 16 participants/audience members

THE ADVERSARIES is the fourth work of the maker on the practice of democracy. It is created with the support of the Flemish Ministry of Culture in Belgium and the Creative Europe project 'ON MOBILISATION, Micro- and transnational communities’ mobilisation through artistic practice 2023-2025'

‘THE ADVERSARIES’ On the practice of conflict (work-in-progress presentation) by Danae Theodoridou

Saturday 24 March, 15.00-18.00

Participation is FREE, but the number of participants is limited. Please reserve your place by 20 March here


What do we mean, when we say that the current crisis of democracy relates closely to the fact that western societies disappear dissensus and passionate negotiation from public sphere? How could our differences be revealed and dealt with in an agonistic spirit? How could we retrain ourselves, as citizens, to confront each in ways that do not end up in the dead-end of polarization?


THE ADVERSARIES is a participatory performance installation that brings in conflict two small groups of people in a performative, playful way. The aim is to provide space to participants to (self)reflect on the practice of conflict as a constitutive democratic practice. Through a step-by-step following of a series of instructions, the two groups are guided to detect an existing conflict between them and negotiate on it in a way that acknowledges the potential and possible limitations of such action. They, thus, attempt to create in common a new third space that emerges between them from the synthesis of their views, as they confront each other and themselves.  


Danae Theodoridou is a performance maker and researcher based in Brussels. Her artistic research focuses on social imaginaries, the practice of democracy and the way that art contributes to the emergence of socio-political alternatives. She teaches in Fontys Academy of the Arts (NL), curates practice-led research projects, and presents and publishes her work internationally. She is the co-author of The Practice of Dramaturgy: Working on Actions in Performance (Valiz, 2017) and the author of Publicing: Practising Democracy Through Performance (Nissos, 2022).


Danae’s residency is part of the ongoing research Il/legal Fictions. It is supported by the Flemish Ministry of Culture. Thanos Papadogiannis will act as a critical responder to the residency and provide written documentation for it.