The Performance Works of Lia Haraki
invites the reader into over two decades of profound artistic inquiry, performance practice-based experimentation, and deep community entanglement. This book is not just a reflection on performance and the process of creating works; it is an unfolding archive of embodied knowledge, collective memory, and the quiet force of an artist who has shaped contemporary performance in Cyprus and beyond. As the editor, it has been a privilege to accompany Lia through this curatorial and intimate re-gathering of her oeuvre. For artists, scholars, and the curious reader alike, this book offers insight into how performance lives, breathes, and endures — both on stage, off stage, and on the page.
- Dr Erica Charalambous, Editor
Contributing authors:
Yiannis Toumazis
Erica Charalambous
Lia Haraki
Guy Cools
Vasileia Anaxagorou
Evi Haraki Mahera
Steriani Tsintziloni
Cathryn Robson
Louiza Papaloizou
‘‘… It often becomes hard to grasp but, in a broader sense, opens up what it means to perform the Self in its complexity, ambiguity, and abstraction. Haraki’s commitment to performance and the biographical becomes a vital aspect of contextualising performance art in Cyprus, mainly as she embodies the true essence of the personal that becomes political through an entry into feminist thought as she attests how her life and lived theory can be situated as an experience for the next generation of performers on the island. The ability to be open, without jargon, is a critical approach to the politics of everyday life, and perhaps now, more than ever, becomes a necessity of time, considering how vastly Cyprus's political and social situatedness is based on structural (among other) inequalities.’’
Vasilia Anaxagorou
‘‘…In her 20-year-long career, Lia has reinvented herself often and created a diversity of practices that she both integrated into her own choreographic toolkit and shared with the professional community in workshops and recently also with her audiences in different interactive presentation formats....But in all these transformations Lia went through, two elements remain at the core from beginning to end: giving voice to the multitude of personalities within herself and within society and practicing the body as a musical instrument. As such her recent work has become more and more musical and she has added a category of sound works to her rich and diverse repertoire such as Vessel - The Mantras Room (2023).’’
Guy Cools
‘’…Idealist for having envisioned a future for dance and dance artists in Limassol and in Cyprus. Idealist for searching for her own ‘truth’ as an artist, for new sensibilities. Idealist in believing in art as a social practice and in dance as a vehicle for spiritual, social and personal empowerment.’’
Steriani Tzitsiloni
‘’Voice is a powerful and probing currency for Haraki. In my capacity as vocal coach and advisor, I know that whatever I offer her, be it a breath exercise, a vocal resonance or a chain of vowels, she will spin it into gold and make meaning and the meaningful out of it. Something honest, bold and disquieting comes into being through the alchemy that happens when Lia Haraki meets voice.’’
Cathryn Robson
Read more about the book here
BOOK CREDITS
Author of Works: Lia Haraki
Editor: Dr Erica Charalambous
Book Design & Layout: Despina Kannaourou
Photography Curation: Pavlos Vrionides
Archival Research & Documentation: Erica Charalambous, Lia Haraki
Translations (Greek–English): Erica Charalambous, Lia Haraki
Proofreading & Copyediting: Diamanto Stylianou
Copyediting Support: Natalie Hadjiadamou
Book Production & Project Management: Erica Charalambous
Published by: Lia Haraki, Limassol, Cyprus, www.liaharaki.com
Produced by: Projects Embracing Love Motivated Art LTD (PELMA)