IN ABSENCE, PRESENCE
An exercise in mourning, Part I
– with Guy Cools
In his textual meandering for the exhibition In absence, presence, curator Bill Nguyen wrote:
How do you choose to remember your past and the pasts of others,
of loved ones, of those lost, of those still here?
Is it through the preservation of objects of memories,
the revisiting of records of time spent together,
the re-telling of exchanged words of intimacy?
What is left to remember one by,
when one’s body has ceased to exist – their warmth withdrawn, their scent dissolved,
and yours still remain?
The two-part event titled An exercise in mourning is an evocative exploration of lamentation and mourning in contemporary art, led by dance dramaturg and author Guy Cools. In An exercise in mourning, Part I, Guy will present insights from his book Performing Mourning: Laments in Contemporary Art, which begins with the ancient Greek tradition of moiroloi (laments) and unfolds through various forms of mourning across different contemporary cultural and artistic practices. Drawing from literature, anthropology, philosophy, and art, his lecture will uncover how lamentation operates as both a personal and collective tool for mourning, reflecting on dialogical strategies for processing personal grief, collective rituals inviting communities to bear witness to loss, and forms of laments that bridge distances between loved ones separated by migration, exile and death.
An exercise in mourning, Part I includes:
– Screening (40 min): A pre-recorded performance lecture by Guy Cools, introducing his research and book Performing Mourning: Laments in Contemporary.
– Conversation: A live dialogue between Guy Cools and exhibition curator Bill Nguyen, exploring how these strategies of performing mourning resonate within the exhibition’s context and broader cultural experiences of loss and remembrance.
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In absence, presence is not merely a one-dimensional experience, but rather a vibrant network between actors and actants* that are interlinked and constantly interacting. In this network, materials serve as both the main and supporting actors. Positioning art as a connector rather than the sole focus, the public programs revolving around In absence, presence uses physical materials to respond to cultural and social issues beyond the white cube. Let your eyes be deceived, your sense of touch misled by illusory textures, to break down any preconceptions and embark on a journey of self-interpretation and continuous meaning-making.
This event is part of a series of public and education programs initiated by Nhi Duong in co-curation with Bill Nguyen, in association with In absence, presence, an exhibition organized by Nguyen Art Foundation.
*Bruno Latour, in Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory (Oxford, 2005)