Chromatic Wednesdays: Divination
Season 4, Episode 3
Contemplation and Agency
A collaboration between Chromatic Wednesdays, nGbK and Florian Wüst
19:00 - Doors open
19:20 - Reading Birds by Johanna Thompson
19:45 - Screening of Arancia Bruciata by Clémentine Roy (74 min)
21:00 - Discussion moderated by Florian Wüst with Caroline Kirberg and Clémentine Roy
Under the theme Contemplation and Agency, this episode of Chromatic Wednesdays suggests a shift of perspectives in tormented times and lands that blend the real and the imaginary. Rituals, omens, celestial phenomena as well as more-than-human storytelling: Through alternative practices, world-making and speculation the natural environment is perceived, explored, and worked in ways that resist rampant growth and exploitation. Hosted by nGbK and curated and moderated by Florian Wüst, the evening will combine a live reading by Johanna Thompson from her book Birds (2018) and the screening of Clémentine Roy’s 2024 experimental documentary film Arancia Bruciata. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with its co-producer Caroline Kirberg and filmmaker Clémentine Roy, who will attend the event online.
The coming two episodes of Chromatic Wednesdays will deal with the theme Contemplation and Agency. Contemplation is a proposition for a practice to deal with the current issues of our socio-political landscape: the rise of right populism hand in hand with techno-feudalism leading to exploitation of humans, other animals and ecological systems. Speed of information flow and the capacity of human perception do not match and this gap makes us vulnerable to control mechanisms. Contemplation as a method of slowing down and gaining perspective will open ways for new Agencies against increasing political biases and regimes.
In the third episode Chromatic Wednesdays aims to advocate for an approach to what surrounds us that is open, receptive, and engaging at the same time. Do I look at what I see? Do I listen or do I just hear? Do I recognise things beyond what I learned to recognise? We will present images, words and sounds that delve into different concepts of interconnection throughout time and space.
Clémentine Roy was born in France, where she studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts de Paris Cergy. She lives and works as an artist in various collaborations in Berlin. Her work includes moving images, photographs, social sculptures, and editions. Her film Carcasse (2017), which lies somewhere between ethnography and science fiction, depicts a community of humans and animals working on a deserted island with the remnants of a lost world. It was shown at the Berlinische Galerie and selected for various festivals such as IFFR and RIDM.
Caroline Kirberg produces documentary, hybrid, and feature films with a (political) stance in the fields of cinema and art with pong film and Kirberg Motors. She is particularly interested in crossing boundaries and hybrid forms, testing new narrative, aesthetic, and technical methods in front of and behind the camera. She produces films by Philip Scheffner, Alex Gerbaulet, Mareike Bernien, Dani Gal, Clémentine Roy, Clarissa Thieme, among others. She teaches at the DFFB and the HfG Offenbach, among others, and is a founding member of the film policy association Hauptverband Cinephilie (HVC).
Johanna Thompson is a Berlin-based conceptual artist working with human interaction, media, and sound. Educated at the San Francisco Art Institute and the University of London, her practice explores how narrative and perspective shape our understanding of society.
Florian Wüst is a Berlin based film curator, artist, publisher, and lecturer. He curates film programs and exhibitions for international art institutions, cinemas, and festivals. Wüst is co-founder of the Berlin Journals—On the History and Present State of the City, which address the social, cultural, and economic changes in Berlin and other cities.
Funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.