Nikima Jagudajev: Basically
Accelerator presents Brussels-based artist and choreographer Nikima Jagudajev’s first exhibition in Sweden, with their work Basically. Jagudajev is interested in social relations as spatial relations and how we come together in meaningful and considerate ways. Inspired by playful ways students subvert the educational system, Jagudajev has developed a prefigurative practice they call ‘re-schooling’. Some of the most creative and heartfelt acts of our early education, like self-organised play, gossip, flirting, passing notes, were extra-curricular yet located within the institution. Basically is an ongoing live project where the exhibition is a hybrid production site, residency space, schoolyard; a context to practice and perform within.
At Accelerator, visitors are enveloped into an open-ended game simply by being in the space. A group of nearly twenty artists, dancers, and musicians hold the rules of the game constant, folding in the audience in visible and invisible ways. Over different formations and phases, they shape the space with elements such as live music, food, a mythopoetic deck of cards called POWDER, the design process of the Arcane Clothing collection, oracles in still life form, non-linear choreographies and unscheduled time that leaves room for contingency. The work is governed by the formal rules of the game as well as by the subjective interpretations that occur in interactions with and between the participating artists and the visitors. In Basically, the creation and re-creation of the environment is central.
Since 2020, Basically has taken different forms and gestures, like a durational performance on a beach, or as a vinyl. The piece grows through accumulation and divergence. At Accelerator, Basically‘s longest iteration to date, what you encounter is one moment in a long-term long-form megawork. There is a synchronistic aspect to the exhibition as it is set up in cycles over the entire exhibition period. Depending on when you arrive you will experience high or low intensity phases of the work and different aspects of Basically are activated at different times. Visitors are invited to experience how the work’s characters write the world of Basically into existence – and to become a part of this open world, role playing game. You come and go as you please, the work has no clear beginning or end. Staying for a while is recommended!
On view until May 19th at Accelerator, Stockholm University.
About Accelerator
Accelerator is an exhibition space where art, science and societal issues meet. It is part of Stockholm University. The mission of Accelerator is to engage actively with society, producing exhibitions presenting international and Swedish contemporary art.
Under the artistic direction of Richard Julin (IKT Member), Accelerator organises a public programme of presentations and talks with artists, researchers, students and the general public. Accelerator’s programme is driven by an ambition to contribute towards a transparent and empathetic society by opening up opportunities for art to spark discussions and interdisciplinary dialogue.