Forever Imbricated hosts a public discussion and invites you to join this ongoing and relevant debate.

Performance art along with all contemporary multidisciplinary practices and their exposure in theatres, museums, music venues and alternative spaces negotiate with the notions of risk and safety on multiple levels. These notions are not to be considered as a predetermined set of rules to be strictly and universally followed but, rather, as an ongoing conversation between different parties shaped by randomness and individuality. The conditions of production for different kinds of works thus demand a fine communication and collaboration between technicians, artists, curators and the audience. We’re also witnessing a radical shift in the ethics of safety in relationship to the audience in terms of accessibility and proactive displays of care; different technologies of risk management – such as trigger warnings, and accountability in regards to questions of neurodivergence and disability – are becoming a growing concern in a number of venues. These concerns also address the necessity of cohabitation between the inherent risks that come with the act of creation and the amount of said risks audience are interested to face. Underground or subaltern practices sometimes embrace the possibility of being hosted in institutionalized and publicly funded venues; this collaboration often implies some kind of negotiation concerning heightened risk management and safety measures that need to be put into place for these events. In dealing with different institutional models, concert halls, clubs or theatres, artists and audience must position themselves between the political need to build and curate safe spaces, and the act of engaging with a work of art as an organism that may contain a portion of the unknown and danger.

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Forever Imbricated Lausanne residency runs from 4 to 15 May.

Forever Imbricated gathers artists, activists, thinkers and creatives to cultivate an exchange: one that accentuates the interweaving (imbrication) of multitudinous ideas, practices and modes of expression. This encounter is a platform that promotes risk in forging alternative social architectures and shared construction of fantasies.
Taking its inspiration from underground scenes and club culture, Forever Imbricated aims to initiate a reflection on how radical forms of togetherness can potentially affect and alter mainstream society. Nightlife, especially after such a long hiatus, offers the temporary community gathered by Forever Imbricated a point of departure to collectively reflect on creative practices at the crossroads between subculture and high culture. The aim is to facilitate a ten-day dialogue among creatives about aspirations, challenges and struggles while considering the dialectic between risk and safety in the cultural field.