Rokolectiv x SHAPE+

Friday 30.05 / 20h00
Adela Mede with Nona Inescu & Emilian Pospaii
Abdullah Miniawy

Saturday 31.05 / 20h00
Cem A.: Crit Club (performance / debate) with Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu & Manuel Pelmuş
Otay:onii

Free entrance
more details : www.rokolectiv.ro
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Rokolectiv presents two nights of live performances with artists from the SHAPE+ platform.

In the frame of the SHAPE+ residencies, Rokolectiv invited Adela Mede to experiment in a shared and open-ended artistic process with Romanian artists Nona Inescu & Emilian Pospaii.

Adela Mede, a Slovak-Hungarian musician and singer, crafts intimate soundscapes that intertwine Central European folklore with contemporary vocal techniques and experimental electronics. Her intimate, powerful songs sung in three languages explore the reality of a life stretched across borders. The voice is central to her practice; it’s dominant, center-stage, an expression of a universal language which Mede uses to describe a reality beyond our individual experiences.

Nona Inescu, a Romanian artist based between Athens, employs photography, installation, sculpture, and video to explore the intricate relationship between the human body and its environment. Based on a theoretical and literary perspective, her works focus on the relationship between the human body and the environment, and the redefinition of this subject in a post-humanist key.

Emilian Pospaii is a Romanian multidisciplinary artist and fashion designer whose work blends visual art, textile, and poetic narrative. Rooted in a background of costume design and enriched by his practice in ceramics, illustration, and tapestry, his creations blur the lines between garment and sculpture. Based in Bucharest, Pospaii explores identity and memory through tactile, immersive pieces that move fluidly between the runway and the gallery.
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Abdullah Miniawy is an Egyptian expressionist, a writer, singer, composer, and actor. Over the years, he has shared the stage with acclaimed artists such as Erik Truffaz, Kamilya Jubran, Yom, Médéric Collignon, Aly Talibab, A Filetta, Hvad, Ziur, Simo Cell, and many others. Abdullah’s performances have graced prestigious international stages and venues, including the Festival d’Avignon edition 72, French national theaters, Institute of Contemporary Arts London, Haus Der Kunst museum in Munich, Mao Asian Museum in Turin, and the Louvre in Paris.
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Crit Club is a performance by Cem A., where two speakers debate an unrealistic question about art. We are often stuck between the binary of praise and non-engagement in the art sphere, where people are increasingly hesitant to inhabit spaces of disagreement.

In the context of this performance, participants are humorously invited to engage in what could be termed a contextual performance – a departure from their usual roles as artists or curators, aimed at broadening their perspectives and bolstering their influence within their community. As the performance progresses, guests are challenged to navigate uncharted waters through role-play and quick thinking. By proposing an impossible-to-answer question, Crit Club creates a situation where ostensibly there’s nothing at stake – or so it seems.
For the Bucharest iteration of Crit Club, Cem A. invited Övül Ö. Durmuşoğlu & Manuel Pelmuş.

With guest appearances by rhythmic gymnasts Caroline Ilie Nahmany & Cezara Maria Ilie.
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Otay:onii is the sonic persona of Lane Shi, a Chinese-born, Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist whose work spans performance, installation, and experimental music. Her sound blends industrial noise, traditional Chinese melodies, and avant-garde structures, crafting visceral experiences that blur cultural and emotional boundaries. Through her concept of “bio instruments,” Otay:onii transforms the body into a vessel of sonic expression, navigating themes of displacement, trauma, and transformation, with raw physicality and haunting beauty.

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Abdullah Miniawy, Adela Mede and otay:onii are part of the SHAPE+ platform artist roster in 2024/2025. SHAPE+ is a European platform for innovative music and interdisciplinary art co-funded by the European Union and Pro Helvetia. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

The event takes place in the frame of the project “Let them play!”, co-financed by AFCN. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not to be held responsible for the content of the project, nor for the ways in which the results of the project might be used. Those are entirely the responsibility of the beneficiary of the grant.