Thu 13 September
Causerie – Aristophanes by Alexandre Singh
As part of his ongoing project ‘The Humans’, visual artist Alexandre Singh explores the rich satirical legacy of Aristophanes, ‘the Prince of Comedy’. The fourth in the series of Causeries marks Aristophanes as a source of inspiration to the artist and brings together several experts to explore a wide range of subjects – from the chorus, costumes and staging to the social and political context of ancient Greece, amidst of which the plays were written.
The Greek playwright Aristophanes (ca. 446 BC – ca. 386 BC) was feared for his social commentary on the society of Athens during his time. In his plays, of which only eleven survived up to today, he ridicules the political situation of Athens and his contemporaries by means of a vast amount of satirical jokes and puns.
Participants include:
Edith Hall (Professor of Classics, King’s College, London) on the political and social context.
James Robson ( Senior Lecturer and Head of Department of Classical Studies, The Open University, London) on textual analysis of Aristophanes’ plays.
Alexa Piqueux (Lecturer department of Greek Culture, University Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense) on Artistophanes’ costumes and staging.
Adriaan Rademaker (Professor Classical Language and Culture, University of Leiden) on textual analysis of Aristophanes’ plays. About the Causeries.
As part of the realization of Alexandre Singh’s ambitious play The Humans, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art presents the Causeries. Taking its title from the French verb causer – to converse or chat – the Causeries are set up as a series of discussions in which Singh expands on The Humans’ key themes, ranging from cosmology and cosmogony to pictorial satire, dance, drama and religion. Rather than discursive events in the well-known format of a conference or a symposium, the Causeries are conceived as informal conversations between the artist and an expert in a given field. It is not only the edification of the artist himself that is pivotal in this alternative kind of exchange, also the audience is offered an insight in the underlying themes of The Humans.
