• Evy Jokhova

    SHIFTING CULTURAL REFERENCES

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07 / 09 / 2021
Evy Jokhova is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice engages with relationships between social anthropology, architecture, philosophy and art. 
Aiming to bridge gaps between different fields, she dedicates herself to the creation of site-specific projects, investigating the relationships between social behaviour, architectural construction and body memory.

Beatriz José: Your journey has taken you to many countries, you were born in Switzerland, you’ve lived in Russia, Austria, Estonia and the UK, and now Lisbon. How would you say this multi-cultural background influences your research and practice?
Evy Jokhova: It is reflected in everything I do because of the way I have learned to approach things, shifting references to alter my perspectives and responses to environments. In terms of my research and practice specifically, I would say I feel compelled to seek out a variety of contexts and cultures to work in. In Vienna, I worked on translating a building into music and then in to dance in collaboration with two Austrian performers. In Nida, Lithuania – covered with pine forests and surrounded by water on both sides – I spent time researching the Baltic forest landscape and I’m currently working on a project with Kumu in Estonia, that explores the Baltic Anthropocene, focusing on foraging culture and leisure architecture. Recently, I’ve spent a lot of time in the Azores, learning more about the plants there. It is my aim to start a Foraging Association in Portugal, to re-introduce traditional plant knowledge and create stronger connections to nature through food and cultural activities.

BJ: We first met when you were in an artistic residency here in Lisbon. You moved to Lisbon primarily to take part in an artistic residency and then never left, or was it your goal to move here?
EJ: The two years before I left London I was travelling from residency to residency. Through this I learned that I was ready to move to a new city. The two great loves of my life are Istanbul and Athens. But the political situation in Turkey is difficult and Greece was going through a crisis at the time. When I came to visit friends in Lisbon I realised that it also had seven hills – so I decided to give it a try. Lisbon was not my first choice, but it was the people here that made me fall in love with the city.  
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BJ: You question your own role and relationship with society, history, landscape and architecture. How do you describe your artistic exercise?
EJ: Everything I do is, in some way, site-specific or site-responsive. Every time I travel and work in a new context my references change and this has a direct effect on my research methodologies, material choice and elements of aesthetic execution. Although my work is research-based, my exploration of place, space and the relationship between body and architecture is truly empirical and embedded in personal narrative.
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For more information, visit Evy Jokhova website.
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