Nefeli Papadimouli – Idiopolis (| - X), 2024

Nefeli Papadimouli, an architect by training, explores the notion of shared space as it relates to people’s bodies. The artist has created textile sculptures which, with the help of performance artists or others, she sets in carefully choreographed movement. Inspired by utopian artistic avant-gardes as well as contemporary dance, her multidisciplinary work encourages reflection on ideas that are often perceived as contradictory: difference and similarity, human and nonhuman, presence and absence, passivity and activity, unity and confrontation. Conceived as radically inclusive spaces for people to meet in, her projects offer a glimpse of new strategies for connecting people, based on interdependence and mutual attentiveness.

With its architectural structure resembling that of railway carriages, Nefeli Papadimouli’s work evokes the past history of the old railway maintenance yards, a place of work for workers and the scene of social and trade union struggles. Blurring the boundaries between different disciplines, it is presented in two distinct modes: on strike — when it is presented in the form of static clothing sculptures — or in action — when it is activated by art enthusiasts in collective performances orchestrated by the artist. Through collaborative action and textile installation, Nefeli Papadimouli’s work constructs “relational maps” and explores the ways in which collective bodies create new spatial and social configurations.