Nikima Jagudajev
5th Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh & WIELS Brussels, Belgium
February 2023 – April 2023
Dancer, choreographer and performance artist Nikima Jagudajev draws inspiration from a diverse range of sources, ancient to contemporary, and integrates them into their art. What emerge are proposals for ways of gathering, for being together and getting to know one another—in front of, and together with, an audience. Through their choreography, they create fluid situations that constantly change. Because of this, their work is also never complete, remaining open to additions and reinterpretations.
For WIELS Brussels and the 5th Dhaka Art Summit, Jagudajev was invited to develop a new work that expanded on the project Basically (2021), which includes allusions to the 9th century BC Chinese divination manuscript I Ching, as well as Zoom meetings and contemporary forms of mediation. Presented outside the confines of the institution, the work used choreography to draw passers-by into WIELS and the Dhaka Art Summit. Mirroring the fluidity of the performance, the project will further unfold in subsequent presentations at institutions in Germany, France and Austria.
Nikima Jagudajev (born 1990 in the United States to an Austrian mother and Uzbek father) works between Brooklyn, NY, and Brussels. Their work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1, New York; Leopold Museum, Vienna; the Marrakech Biennale, Morocco. This is their first collaboration with Phileas. They will also conduct a performance titled A Bedtime Story in April 2023 at Opernring 17.
