International Visitors Programme
The Hague-based initiative The Balcony joined forces with the Eye Filmmuseumto invite Dr. Erika Balsom for a series of public sessions and workshops with trainees in March 2024. On March 8, The Balcony inaugurated Slow Drift(s) 1, a solo exhibition by filmmaker Peggy Ahwesh (US, 1954). The exhibition Slow Drift(s) closely aligns with Dr. Balsom's research interests, exploring the unstable nature of expanded cinema through an unconventional display format. Additionally, it delves into themes of identity, mortality, cyberfeminism, and critical approaches towards devices of vision—themes central to Ahwesh's oeuvre and Dr. Balsom's scholarly pursuits.
Dr. Balsom was invited for a dinner with the team of The Balcony, to attend the opening on Friday, and to subsequently deliver a lecture about the exhibition on the afternoon of Saturday, March 9th, as part of their public program.
Dr. Balsom delivered a sold-out lecture discussing Peggy Ahwesh’s films on show. Among other topics, she discussed the applicability of Marcia Tucker’s notion of ‘bad painting’ to Ahwesh’s animation, as well as the tension between the horror of the content and the triviality of the medium in some of the works. The lecture was followed by a lively Q&A and her insights sparked conversation among attendees.
Dr Erika Balsom’s research focuses on the histories, aesthetics, and politics of nonfiction cinemas. She has published extensively on the intersections of art and the moving image, often focusing on questions of technological change and/or examining the relationship between artistic practices and their institutional contexts, including distribution, exhibition, and criticism.