Poetics of Democracy (2024)

a silent act of collective thinking

Departing from Audre Lorde’s idea that ‘poetry is not a luxury’, the performance places at its centre practices that are currently absent from public discourse: reading, deep listening and political reflection. In a time alarmingly characterized by toxicity, anti-intellectualism, and lack of empathy, Poetics of Democracy invites citizens to be inspired by books that have influenced their thinking politically and socially, and to meet other citizens among the books of the National Library of Greece. There they exchange, one-on-one, thoughts in silence through a written exchange that starts from phrases coming from their readings. The aim is to experiment with the way we can produce (political) thought together away from the disorienting ‘noise’ of public debate.

The Poetics of Democracy is part of the maker’s broader artistic research on the Practice of Democracy.