Artist: Cat Jugravu
Curator: Tia Čiček
Artist assistant: Pieter Defraene
Curatorial assistant: Elena Chirila
Participants: Katarina Babič Derenda, Nal Kocjan, Patrik Komljenović, Spike_Pika Terpin
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Exhibition events
10. 9. at 7 pm: Trans(myth) Me Baby One More Time exhibition opening (at Kino Šiška)
10. 9. at 9 pm: rave-performance Trans(myth) Me Baby One More Time (at Kino Šiška)
13. 9. at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition Trans(myth) with the artist Cat Jugravu and the curator Tia Čiček (at Škuc Gallery)
20. 9. at 6 pm: viewing of the exhibition Trans(myth) with the assistant curator Elena Chirila (at Škuc Gallery)
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Last January, I visited a dear friend in Salzburg, who was producing a performance piece by an artist I was unfamiliar with at the time. I sadly missed the performance but was fortunate to meet them both the next day to attend an audio event at the same space where the performance had been held – ARGEkultur. We met, grabbed drinks and took our spots next to the tech crew at the back of the small room, which was packed full at this point. Sitting on the floor in anticipation of the event, a familiar feeling started to creep into my stomach. The space seemed too small, it was crammed with people, and they all seemed to be sitting so close. The event started and the audio seemed to be like something you might listen to before going to sleep. The monotonous beat and low frequencies created a hypnotic atmosphere, making me too aware of my surroundings. Sitting on the floor, I found it hard to surrender to the ambience, I was preoccupied with the smells in the air and the heat creeping up my sweater. The uncomfortable sitting position was straining and moving seemed impossible without disturbing those around me. Not knowing how long the performance would last made it even more unbearable and the exit was unreachable without annoying everyone, who was enjoying their artificial trance-like state. Then, they reached out. The performer from the previous night noticed just how uncomfortable the event was making me feel and offered me their hand. “Breathe, you’re okay,” they said. Not used to being “read just like that”, I remembered a sense of calm coming over me. Some comfort in all the madness.
When the event was finally over, I was thankful to learn more about their Applied Theatre master’s project at the Thomas Bernhard Institute of the Universität Mozarteum, which had taken place the night before. A performance entitled Dionysos. Madness pours upon my lovely face. The caring backbone of their practice was clear. Cat Jugravu, acting as Dionysos, led a large crowd through a whole-body performance-turned-rave. They reshaped the Olympian god of wine, vegetation, pleasure, fertility, celebration, festivity, frenzy, madness and so on into a queer trans*deity, guiding the crowds through the liminal spaces – gaps within Euripides’ ancient play The Bacchae. In a safe space, experiencing the proposed cleansing of madness itself.
Some months later, I contacted Jugravu to see if they would like to repeat the performance and expand it as a solo show at Škuc Gallery. Our conversations immediately touched upon the local trans* community, not what role it might play, but how the project could be beneficial and/or what kind of healing and empowerment it could bring to the community, rather than simply utilising its stories. After securing co-producers (Centre for Urban Culture Kino Šiška and Zavod-SCCA Ljubljana) to facilitate a larger performance space with the necessary audio-visual equipment, we contacted Zavod TransAkcija to commence our conversations on how to proceed.
The project continuation includes the solo exhibition Trans(myth) at Škuc Gallery (21. 8. – 26. 9.) and the exhibition Trans(myth) Me Baby One More Time (10. 9.–11. 10.) accompanied by the rave-performance with the same title (10. 9.) at Kino Šiška. The project started with an open call for workshop participants aimed mainly at LGBTQIA+ persons, emphasising trans* individuals through TransAkcija’s established circles. Understanding the challenges faced by the trans* community, we aim to focus on re-imagining trans* myths and characters – e. g. Jarilo, Svetovid, Kurent – through historical exploration and the creation of new narratives. Additionally, we seek to explore avenues of auto-representation within the community, utilising myth and craft as tools for empowerment through artistic expression and dialogue. The project processually unfolds through ten preparatory sessions scheduled from June to August, blending online and in-person workshops. Activities include working sessions focusing on autobiographical writing for the stage, art pedagogy and in-depth exploration of Southern Slavic mythology. Later, the workshops will merge with preparations for the rave-performance, including theatre pedagogy methodologies and whole-body exercises.
The exhibition Trans(myth) continues to build on the processual core of the collaboration and shows research material, narratives, possible new archival material and artefacts collectively unearthed and reimagined into a new temporary archive. The material that connects the individual pieces, slowly growing and breathing new life into the reimagined stories, further activates the established interconnected method of support and entanglement framed by the workshops. We continue the cycle of unearthing, studying, archiving, forgetting, reimagining and so on with new steps, varied directions and intentions. Uncontrollably, we merge and divide the tissues that make up the fabric of our existence, which we need to reflect on and question rather than succumb to.
Trans(myth) stands because and for the local trans* community and includes stories and ideas created for immersive collective healing. Projects that aim to achieve such an effect can easily falter or fail; however, implementing community-centred contemporary art endeavours is central to keeping such production spaces responsible for their output and, more importantly, supporting the processes they implement.
Tia Čiček
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Cat Jugravu (1991, Romania) is an LGBTQIA+ activist, theatre-maker, poet, performer, and researcher of Romanian-Romani descent, working at the intersection of affective memory and remembrance. They studied Stage Acting at The National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest, where they obtained a bachelor’s degree and went on to complete a master’s degree in Applied Theatre at the Mozarteum University Salzburg in 2023. Since 2018, Jugravu has been the co-founder and artistic director of the Queerdos Kollektiv in Berlin. Their work focuses on community-building, somatic art therapy and generative theatre methodology, addressing issues like gender-based violence, trans/homophobia, racism and xenophobia.
Living in Berlin since 2015, they use performance, deep bodywork and trauma politics to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and create inclusive spaces for marginalised voices. They are dedicated to amplifying LGBTQIA+ narratives and empowering individuals and communities through embodied artistic practices. Jugravu’s projects often explore the intersection of performance, trauma and social activism, aiming to develop new sociocultural methods of negotiation by centring queer bodies.
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English proofreading: Arven Šakti Kralj
Slovene proofreading: Inge Pangos
Promotional material design: Lea Jelenko
Cover image: Pieter Defraene with the help of AI
Photos from the exhibition opening: Simao Bessa
Exhibition view: Matic Pandel
Video: Sara Rman
Co-production: Škuc Gallery, Centre for Urban Culture Kino Šiška, Zavod SCCA-Ljubljana, Zavod TransAkcija
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Acknowledgements: Maximilian Lehner, Nuka Horvat, Neo Nova, Primož Turnšek, Center Rog – FabLab (Tauan Bernardo, Dejan Kotnik).
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The project is supported by the mobility programme Culture Moves Europe.
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
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The Škuc Gallery programme is supported by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Ljubljana.
