‘What does the encounter mean as an aesthetic experience, simultaneously sonic, corporal and political?’

Anne Carson’s essay ‘The Gender of Sound’, on the female voice throughout history, is reinterpreted here from a trans-feminist perspective. The starting point is a poem by Alcaeus (6th century BC), which describes his experience of being ostracised and expelled from the city. Outcast and terrified, the poet hears a group of women from the island of Lesbos laughing and talking about their own beauty. Alcaeus compares the women’s voices to the sounds of a wolf pack. In Ancient Greece, the wolf symbolised a wild and uncontrolled force that required human domestication to become ‘civilised’. Even today, female and queer dissent remains a latent threat to the established order.

‘Lesbian Assembly’ takes the form of a living stage, that transforms over the course of the residency. It presents itself as a place of visibility, freedom and discovery – a space where one can play, rest, read, think, chat and ‘flirt’.

At the beginning of the journey, three monsters emerge, evoking non-binary identity and fluidity, referencing ancestral figures linked to magic and ritual. These figures allude to other presences in my work, in this case reinterpreted and transformed into a trio of lesbian ‘madames’. Returning from an ancestral time to reclaim their space to speak, they gather in an act of joy and self-discovery.

These figures may transform and multiply throughout the residency. They have the potential to generate new monsters or exchange parts of their bodies, in continuous gestures of experimentation with identity and gender expression. They may also disappear – decomposing and embracing other forms of life.’

— Maria Paz Aires

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Conceived by Diana Correia, in collaboration with Maria Paz Aires, a sound installation is available in the space. A distinct voice is assigned to each of the three metal sculptures – Monstras [Monsters].

Residency programme in collaboration with a group of students from the Lisbon Consortium at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa.