Please share where you decided to go, when, and a brief why

The ‘where’ was for me the most difficult part of the process. Where do you go if the choice is all yours?

I spent a lot of time researching performance festivals. Some of them, I rejected on the basis of practical reasons, either the timing was not convenient, or the travelling cost was too high. Others on the basis of content. And even the ones that I found very interesting and potentially enriching for my practice, I felt somehow alienated, almost intimidated by the structure. I made a list of my favourites and highlighted them. However, I often changed my mind and selected different ones.

In the end, I decided to shift my focus from structured performance festivals to festivals where performance takes place, and that are open to participation by everyone, including myself.

At the time, I was dealing with a troubled dilemma: my attraction towards ancestral traditions, rituals and culture and at the same time my aversion towards fixed ideas from a queer trans perspective. The comfort of community and belonging and the oppression that comes with it.

With that in mind I chose to use my honeymoon opportunity for digging in those wounds with equal pleasure and visit two very different festivals:

A traditional (religious) festival on a small island in Greece in September 2023, with a focus on the late-night music fiesta and community dancing (everyone can join the dance).

The Queer Spirit Festival, in Devon, in August 2023. From the full programme of events and performances, I focused on the Fire Ceremony performed by 2 main facilitators, a circle of percussionists (of varied level of skills / everyone can join the circle) and community dancing (everyone can dance freely).

Please share 2-3 bullet points each highlighting:

- what it meant and felt like for you to take an artist honeymoon

It felt like a treat, to have the time and funding, without the pressure to produce anything.

It felt strange to be an observer, without the pressure to perform or engage in other work. And on the other hand, it also felt enriching to immerse myself into the experience with a purpose rather than just attending and watching.

It felt like a journey: planning the visit, embarking on a physical journey, and returning. And the triggering of the mental and emotional journey along the way. The experiences there inform my perspective here.

It expanded my understanding of what constitutes performance and clarified the direction of my research interest and practice.

- How could other curators, groups, or organisations learn from your experience with Open Call

The long timeline and flexibility enabled participants/artists to plan around our work and life commitments.

Flexibility in defining the type of the event/performance we could attend.

The freedom to interpret and creatively respond to the performance experiences we chose allowed for diverse expressions, such as postcard writing, video creation, sound recordings, and voice snippets

- Why Open Call could consider continuing this experiment?

It gives artists agency; they choose the direction, destination, and pace.

It gives artists the time to breathe, to think about what they want, why, and where they can find it. And in the process, what they don’t want. It can be a surprise.

It gives the opportunity for reflections, realisations, rebooting, inspiration.

my intention was to go see a few shows by South african artists at the festival d'automne in paris 2023 but to my surprise all the shows were fully booked one month and a half before i then thought perhaps i can check out some eastern european festivals i couldnt find any in the end i decided to split my honeymoon in 2 parts leisure time in berlin & gardening project in paris during my trip to berlin in decembre 2023 i stayed for one week at simina a good friend of mine who recently moved there she was living with two other artists from mexico and chile named moises and pancho we gathered in their studio and i had my first occasion to take part in a jam session a non-recorded improv which had a strong impact on my own practice indeed my friend from south africa the talented jackie manyapelo was right everyone can dance sing and experience music i am yet to discover how this experience shaped my own practice but i know it expanded my imaginary i spent the rest of my days visiting museums and expositions at a slow pace recording my steps along the way which you can hear the postcard i sent to melissandre jade taja and niya in spring 2023 i went to paris where my other good friend stephanie had just begin working on her first collective project æther studio and was in need of my guidance and spare hands to help her out with her gardening project i decided to share what money i had left from my honeymoon to take this journey with her on a farm just outside of paris where we planted native seeds that she smuggled so to say from the us to france she being part mexican american part cherokee decided that we should farm in the three sisters method an indigenous method of farming that consists in the intercropping of planting corn beans and squash altogether and that s what we did i then left to bucharest but returned when it was harvest time we took our offsprings to the art space in paris where they perform alongside mathilde a nonconventional cook with the participation of others in what we called a food preparation and sacred food tasting as part of the collective s first public initiative intervals and this is how my honeymoon ended this process required time patience sweat and dedication yet all placed under the sign of uncertainty

which had a profound impact on my wellbeing and influenced the ways in which my own creative researches are conducted to compose initiate and then trust the process let go knowing that it will grow and if it doesn't then start again by being offered this opportunity i was able to take a break from a long period of financial struggles and a stressful period in my life to be honest i couldn't believe my luck as a creative who had the most uncreative last two years i am full of gratitude for it helped me reclaim my time and restate the importance of leisure in our times i had the possibility to travel and explore different cultures and practices and was even able to share my resources in this case capital with other fellow creatives in need thank you for this opportunity open call team i hope others will follow your motivation and dedication to the wellbeing of your fellows as it is much needed in our times you allowed by giving us capital for new ways of thinking about creative processes in a humane and caring nature by giving without demanding

i end with the words of kahlil gibran on giving ...It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding; And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving.And is there aught you would withhold? All you have shall some day be given; Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish. Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.And what desert greater shall there be, than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving? And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed? See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving. For in truth it is life that gives unto life while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness. And you receivers... and you are all receivers... assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives. Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings; For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the freehearted earth for mother, and God for father.