24 january 2025, Flor Linckens
Defiant Bodies in Contour Gallery
Until 22 February 2025, Contour Gallery in Rotterdam presents the exhibition 'Defiant Bodies'. It marks the inaugural edition of the Young Curators Program (YCP). This initiative offers emerging curators from Rotterdam the opportunity to shape and present their unique vision. Curator Maja Šmon launches the gallery-initiated program with an exciting and poetic selection of three young artists. “I look for experiences in the field of arts and culture where transcendence pushes the boundaries of the imaginable,” says Šmon. “How are our bodies intertwined with our desires for freedom and expression? This exhibition features photographs by Elena Orta, paintings by Vera Kersting and performance (+video work) by Kulshedra Dervishi."
'Defiant Bodies' delves into themes such as bodily transgression and liberation, violence and collective resistance. What happens when the outside world clashes with our freedoms and desires? How do we negotiate or break free? What role does connection with others play in this?
The term Defiant 'Bodies' feels especially relevant in today's world. Inspired by current events and socio-political tensions, the exhibition raises questions about the varied traces violence leaves behind and how these experiences translate into protest and alternative forms of connection. The exhibition invites us to reflect on the effects of power and the role our bodies — both individual and collective — play in resistance and healing.
Each artist approaches this resistance in their own way and through their respective disciplines. Movement artist Kulshedra Dervishi, painter Vera Kersting and photographer Elena Orta explore resistance as a response to an environment that restricts personal freedoms or desires. By becoming part of a collective experience, the individual transcends the boundaries of their own body.
A section of the exhibition focuses on the collaboration between choreographer Kulshedra, who presents a video work and solo performance from their project 'Rebel Body Vol. I', and photographer Elena Orta, who showcases images captured during the 'Rebel Body Vol. I' video dance project. Additionally, painter Vera Kersting presents works from her series 'Ik moest buigen zei ze' ('I Had to Bow, She Said').
Kulshedra Dervishi (1998) describes themselves as a movement and sensory artist, choreographer, performer, teacher, pleasure activist and bodyworker. Originally from Albania/Italy, they currently live and work in Berlin. Recurring themes in their work include group dynamics, various forms of violence, folklore, sexuality and psychology, with a strong focus on intersectional liberation.
In the performance artwork 'Rebel Body Vol. I', Dervishi engages thirteen queer and trans performers in an exploration of how bodies endure systemic violence and oppressive regimes. They examine how movement can serve as a tool to understand and break through the complex dynamics of oppression. Central to this exploration is collective strength, which drives new forms of physical expression and resilience while embracing universal emotions such as grief, anger, and violence.
On Rebel Body Vol. I, Dervishi notes: “This project emerged from 'Messpit', a workshop I have led over the past two years, in which survival strategies are developed through movement. For the video project, I invited queer and trans performers who have joined my practice with trust and support, to explore movements I have developed, such as using collective strength to achieve what feels impossible alone. It’s about feeling supported by a group that creates space for emotions often stigmatized — anger, hopelessness and grief — and bringing our bodies and stories into motion through physical resilience and authentic expression. I am grateful for the trust and for everyone who resonates with my practice.”
Elena Orta (1995), was born in Italy. She lived in Amsterdam for a period before relocating to Berlin in 2023. Orta primarily works with photography and film, occasionally incorporating sound, music and painting. Her practice is marked by collaborations with other artists and a deep engagement with Berlin’s local queer and trans performance art scene.
Driven by a profound need to capture the depth and complexity of human actions, emotions, beauty and details, Orta’s work explores themes such as love, intimacy, identity, queerness, loss, nostalgia and profound human connections. Her photographic practice delves into the balance between confrontation and protection, exposing the fine line between resistance and retreat.
Her layered black-and-white photographs reveal how bodies interact with their surroundings, uncovering layers of perception and collective dynamics. Orta captures moments in which individual identity dissolves into collective movement, making the tension between personal and shared experiences tangible.
In 'Defiant Bodies', Orta presents a new photo series stemming from Dervishi’s 'Rebel Body Vol. I' project. Here, she illustrates how individual ‘body-psyches’ are transcended and transformed into a collective physical expression of compassion, sometimes leading to personal liberation. Through the use of black-and-white photography, Orta creates a sense of distance, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the complex dynamics of entangled bodies and movement.
Over haar werk zegt Orta: “As an artist and a photographer I am interested in exploring the raw reality of the human condition. In the project Rebel Body Vol. I, I witnessed a group of performers exploring the themes of violence and resistance through movement. What is violence? And who gets to judge? How does a body manifest and feel this immense power among a society that doesn’t justify or validate the realities of those that are marginalized. Throughout the performance bodies clash and tensions reflect the turmoil of inner and external worlds. Here, movement becomes both the language of grief and the manifestation of resistance, where bodies merge in collective support, forming a powerful, interdependent entity.”
Vera Kersting's work also compellingly illustrates the intricate connection between the mind and the language of the body. Kersting was born in 1997 in Rotterdam. Her multidisciplinary practice encompasses painting, installation, film, sound, text and costume design. She studied fashion at ArtEZ in Arnhem, followed by a Master of Fine Arts at KASK in Ghent. Kersting’s work explores the crossing of boundaries, using colour to make visible the tension between seemingly contradictory emotions such as humour and suffering, comfort and longing. Recently, Kersting spent three months in Yogyakarta with the artist collective Taring Padi, deepening her interest in cultural narratives and investigating her own personal connection to Indonesia’s history — her grandmother was interned in a Japanese concentration camp there during World War II. In her series 'Ik moest buigen zei ze', currently on view at Contour Gallery, Kersting translates these experiences into a universal story, addressing themes of humiliation, submission and exhaustion, alongside physical and mental resilience. Her works often feature vivid colours and grotesque, slightly eerie elements, evoking a certain tension. Her compositions oscillate between past and present, reality and fiction, imbued with both fear and solace.
Maja Šmon, curator of 'Defiant Bodies', has set an ambitious framework with this exhibition. Her carefully curated selection offers intriguing perspectives on physical liberation and collective resistance. By choosing artists who push and transcend boundaries, Šmon invites visitors to reimagine physical experience and collective strength. Šmon: “These projects nurture the sense of resistance, the complexity of human emotions and the body."
Programme
In addition to the exhibition, Contour Gallery offers a public programme that provides deeper insight and context.
- 1 February | 16:00 Artist Talk: curator Maja Šmon enters into a conversation with Vera Kersting and Elena Orta
- 7 February | 19:00 Poetry Reading by Vera Kersting
- 22 February | 16:00 - 18:00 Finissage and Curator Talk with Maja Šmon
