In March 2026, I spent twelve days in Athens as part of a mobility project supported by Culture Moves Europe, in collaboration with the bubble artist duo La Petite Marguerite.
The residency was centered around Metaxy, a Greek term meaning “in-between,” describing the relational space that arises between people. This idea became a guiding thread throughout the time in Athens, shaping both the artistic work and the encounters that unfolded.
My practice explores relational presence through participatory performance, with a focus on bubbles as a sensory and social medium. I am interested in how shared attention, trust, and collective experience can emerge through simple, playful interactions in public and intimate spaces. Within this residency, this approach met the work of La Petite Marguerite, whose practice explores bubbles as a physical and social phenomenon with a strong focus on perception, play, and social connection.
Together, we created a series of participatory bubble performances for children of different ages and backgrounds. We worked across a variety of settings, including outdoor performances and more intimate encounters. One of the most memorable experiences was visiting children in a hospital, moving from room to room with simple mobile setups, creating small, quiet moments of presence and wonder at their bedsides.
Alongside these focused encounters, we also worked in public spaces, bringing bubbles into the streets and into direct contact with passersby. These spontaneous interactions opened playful exchanges with both children and adults, showing how immediate and accessible this medium can be in everyday urban environments.
The collaboration was a continuous exchange of methods and perspectives. I was introduced to approaches that emphasize collective, lively engagement, while also sharing my own techniques, particularly in the field of indoor play and workshop formats. This mutual learning expanded the artistic vocabulary on both sides.
A strong impression from this time was the cultural emphasis on togetherness, a way of working and interacting that places shared experience at the center. Moments such as children sharing a single bubble space made this visible in a simple and direct way.
Beyond the artistic work, the residency also included a shared research dimension. My own artistic research focuses on trust, relational presence, and how shared attention can be created through participatory performance. In parallel, Vassia Tsotsou’s practice explores bubbles as a physical and social phenomenon, with a focus on perception, play, and social connection. These two lines of inquiry met and informed each other throughout the residency, creating a space of mutual observation and exchange where artistic practice and reflection were closely intertwined. Audience interactions and emotional responses were not only experienced but also discussed as part of an evolving shared research process.
The residency also allowed me to connect with the local performance and circus community in Athens, gaining insight into their practices and contexts. It became a site of artistic research into relational space, participation, and sensory engagement across different environments.
A final resonance of the residency remains the experience of Athens itself, moving between ancient and contemporary spaces, between theatre ruins and street life, and encountering unexpected moments of wonder, including the discovery of the so-called “magic sphere.” I also learned the three Greek words for bubbles, φούσκα (foúska), σαπουνόφουσκα (sapounófouska), φουσκάλες (fouskáles), which added another small layer of connection to place, language, and perception.
Beyond the artistic work, the residency was also shaped by the warmth and hospitality of the people encountered along the way, often shared over delicious and welcoming meals. At the same time, working outdoors brought its own challenges, particularly the cold, wind, and shifting weather conditions, which became part of the performance environment itself and required constant adaptation.
I am grateful to Culture Moves Europe for the support that made this mobility possible, and to La Petite Marguerite for the collaboration, openness, and shared curiosity that shaped these days.
photos: La Petite Marguerite & myself
