Cornerstone Programming

Maktaba: A Speculative Thought Circle is a monthly gathering dedicated to collective reading, viewing, and discussion across disciplines. Rooted in the Arabic word for “library,” Maktaba takes the form of an open and horizontal learning environment where participants gather around a roundtable to reflect on texts and artistic practices, from exhibitions, books, film, and image to performance and sound, considering the ways they speak to one another and what we might speculate from them.

For its second iteration, Maktaba: A Speculative Thought Circle II invites multidisciplinary and performance artist Yoonsik Chico Park as an interlocutor to facilitate our dialogue around performance studies. Together, we will examine, synthesize, and speculate the alternative history of performance studies and the diversity of performance in the contemporary landscape. How can performance blur boundaries within the arts, obscure distinctions between art and the everyday, and reach for a durational practice as a way of being?

Exploring various performance practices and texts, the session will aim to develop a foundational understanding of performance studies and of its critical role in shaping and informing socio-cultural discourse.

All texts and/or bodies of work for each Maktaba Circle are shared prior to our meeting. Participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the materials, annotate, and bring their own references and offerings to the discussion.

Accessibility & Participation

Open to ages 18+

No prior experience required.

Language: English

About the Moderator

Yoonsik Chico Park (b. 1998, Seoul) is an artist living and working in Abu Dhabi. Working across performance, installation, sculpture, and image, his practice examines individual agency within society, exploring how we could craft a more meaningful existence. He has presented practice-based research and performances at academic conferences such as Performance Studies international (PSi) and College Art Association (CAA) and has exhibited and screened work at 1604 Art Space, Bayt Al Mamzar, The Project Space (NYUAD Art Gallery), CICA Museum, and 526 W 114th Street. Chico was a recipient of the Salama bint Hamdan Emerging Artist Fellowship (SEAF) and the NYU Abu Dhabi Postgraduate Research Fellowships. He holds a BA in Philosophy from NYU Abu Dhabi, where he studied Philosophy and Theater.