In Cristina Maldonado's School of Magical Giving, we re-learn that giving, receiving, and retributing are magical doings that create the world. The temporary artistic intervention is part of the gallery archive until January 15, 2023. In the gallery, you can read several performative books based on real events of magical giving. In these books you will find a record of what happens when we grasp the moment of giving and receiving from strangers and loved ones.
Cristina Maldonado: Offer to Offer | School of Magical Giving
Do you remember how to read the hidden messages in giving?
In the School of Magical Giving, we re-learn that giving, receiving, and retributing are magical doings that create the world. Giving is a tool to build, interpret, bond, and a way to receive signs and read life. We are not talking about a celebration gift or charity, but about the political agency that giving has in a capitalist system: giving to a stranger, giving for no reason, without expecting reciprocation, giving when one has a loss, giving when one has nothing to give, giving reasons to others to give, giving time and attention, giving in receiving, receiving without having to earn it, giving to a person, to a thing, to a non-human, or a nonsensical giving. All of them are reminders of magical giving. The kind of giving that calls the unexpected, feeds an uncertain but profound purpose, and allows a dialogue with the unknown, with synchronicity, and serendipity.
The School of Magical Giving initiates a long-term intervention in GAMPA with the program Offer to Offer, bringing to Pardubice's audience the possibility to recall the mysterious and healing properties of giving. All of this in the midst of Mikulaš in the spirit of redimensioning the act of gift giving.
The school uses conversations, experimentation, creation, and contemplation. You can enjoy an introduction to this program with our lectures that reflect on modes of giving and their political, ethical, and magical effects. You can go deeper into the process of experiencing these principles in a weekend workshop. Or you can visit the library of the School of Giving during the week to discover performative media books that document true events of magical giving and its ripple effects. On your visit to the library, you can also peek into our pop-up workshop in which we continuously weave these performative books. And perhaps you will give yourself the chance to borrow one and bring it home for the night.
PROGRAM
Thursday, December 1, 2022
10:00–17:30 | Library of the School of Magical Offering
- Visit us any time during the day, meet the artist and learn more about receiving and giving. Anyone in any age is welcome.
Friday, December 2, 2022
10:00–17:30 | Library of the School of Magical Offering
17:30–19:00 | Lecture
- Artist’s lecture on magical giving, the lecture will be held in English with translation to Czech.
Saturday, December 3 & Sunday, December 4, 2022
10:00–17:30 | Library of the School of Magical Offering
10:00–12:00 & 13:30–15:30 | Workshop
- Two day workshop which allows you to go deeper into processes of giving and receiving. The workshop is led by the artist in English. Translation to Czech will be provided. Anyone in any age is welcome. Please, register in advance via email: info@gmpardubice.cz, in case of any question, do not hesitate to contact us.
Monday, December 5, 2022 – closed
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
10:00–17:30 | Library of the School of Magical Offering
18:00–20:00 | Workshop / Closing Dinner with guests
- We invite you to join us at the table and share your experiences from the School of Magical Offering. In case you haven't managed to join any of the previous activities, you can get to know about it at least now and learn about the next steps of the project.
Cristina Maldonado is a Mexican intermedia artist based in Prague (CZ), working in the fields of immersive art, participatory and relational art, video-performance, performative writing and site-specific performances. For the last two decades, she has been working independently directing, performing, mentoring and leading workshops and collaborations. Currently, she is focused on the concepts of mediation and uncharted human relationships. She works with devised theater and dialogical methodologies and she is researching how to bring art further into the process of creating knowledge.