LATENT COMMUNITY

NEROMANNA

December 3, 2022 through February 12, 2023

Opening Reception: Saturday, December 3 from 7-10PM

Latent Community’s video work NEROMANNA (2017) focuses on the story of Kallio, a village in Fokida, Greece, whose inhabitants were evicted in 1969 and later flooded in 1981, being left submerged in an artificial lake. The flooding occurred as a result of the construction of the Mornos dam, to be used as a water reservoir for the city of Athens, Greece.

The aim of the project is to present the story of Kallio and to briefly reconstitute its lost community, through underwater footage of the sunken village combined with the voices of its former inhabitants, who speak of their eviction and relocation.

The whole video work is an attempt to bring to the fore the latent conflicts between the natural and the artificial, between the metropolis and the periphery, and between dominant narratives and counter-stories. In NEROMANNA, the ruins of Kallio emerge with the lowering of water levels every once in a while during times of drought, a reminder of the power of water and its politics, as well as the consequences of its control through large-scale engineering projects on human life.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Latent Community is the interdisciplinary artist duo by Sotiris Tsiganos (1992) and Ionian Bisai (1992) working in research-based projects. Their practice intertwines fieldwork and moving image focusing on social and ecological injustice. Laboring in the age of augmented realities, the artist duo weaves social engagement and critique through participatory strategies and performative sequences, resulting in hybrid film productions – remixing documentary, fiction and archive.

Their work has been presented internationally in exhibitions and festivals (Athens Biennale, Documenta14 – Public Programs, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, School of Waters – Mediterranea 19 Young Artists Biennale, Athens International Film Festival, Recontemporary – Turin), they’ve been awarded by LOOP Barcelona, Sharjah Art Foundation, SNF ARTWORKS and they were residents at ONASSIS AiR – The School of Infinite Rehearsals. They are participants of the 23rd Biennale of Sydney (2022) – rīvus and are just concluding their time as artists-in-residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.