Mirthe Berentsen and Virginija Januškevičiūtė come together in conversation with Marianna Maruyama for an energetic exchange around writing, termitic modes of being, mothering multitudes, and life-cycles. If writing serves both as a process of emptying and accumulating, termites can be reliable guides in this contradictory, self-defeating, seemingly circular pursuit.
The conversation between Virginija Januškevičiūtė and Marianna Maruyama picks up one year after their public discussion at the Royal Netherlands Institute Rome, and is now graciously joined by Mirthe Berentsen who shares the following recollection:
"in Maharashtra, in western India, i was waiting for the delivery of a table. it had belonged to a colleague and the antique wood would suit my bedroom. shortly after its arrival, i noticed small pieces of the table on the floor every morning, dutifully i cleared it away and forgot about it. until i wandered off to find peace at night & i remembered the pieces of the table. i thought i heard the termites, feasting on my house. and in that dim zone of surrender and alertness, i felt the termites gnawing at my feet. slowly taking possession of all my corridors. until i’m merely hollow forms of inheritance and memory. i weathered from a body into a building, becoming brown mountains of masses, of self-regulating processes, becoming energy and us. buried in a living grave i am greater than i could ever have been on my own."
This event takes place in the context of Marianna Maruyama’s solo exhibition “Six Blue Things” at Page Not Found.
This is a free event.