Berlin-based artist duo Prinz Gholam will present a performance and tour the exhibition as part of the opening weekend of their exhibition at Zachęta.

On Saturday 7 September 2024, in viewings starting at 4, 5, 6 and 7 pm, Prinz Gholam will present a Performance in Four Entrances made up of several sessions of different durations, which will take place in the exhibition space, in a room with large-format drawings. The artists' actions will interact with the exhibition's arrangement, and the masks they wear during the performance will act as a link to the works on display. The masks are both separate works of the duo and props. Each has a different expression, ranging from realistic, grotesque and abstract to historical. Their use allows for the blurring of individuality; they are not assigned to specific identities, but express ‘non-identity’, pointing to the very existence of the body and its unification. The performance will consist of a series of minimalist, static choreographic arrangements, and the artists will become a kind of living sculptures with a meditative and intimate character.

Wolfgang Prinz (b. 1969) and Michel Gholam (b. 1963) have been working together since 2001. Their multidisciplinary practice includes live performance, films, photographs, large-scale drawings and objects. Initially, they pursued separate projects - Prinz painted paintings on the walls of his studio, while Gholam worked on photography and drawing. Over time, together they developed a multidisciplinary practice based on performative actions and symbiotic collaboration. In their choreographic arrangements, they use and reinterpret motifs drawn from various sources, drawing attention to the political and social dimensions of the body as perceived through its historical representations.