Les Gloriettes 3: Laila Melchior and Koi Persyn

July was an intense month for curators Laila Melchior and Koi Persyn, who were invited by the joint initiative of Komplot and the Les Gloriettes platform to develop their curatorial research on the particularities of the territory of l'Entre-Deux-Mers, Bordeaux and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and the ways of life it entails. During this residency, they visited the municipality of Langoiran to conduct month-long research in the context of Entre-Deux-Mers and its metropolitan surroundings. This immersion will allow them to nourish, build and prepare the conditions for a future event around the visual arts.

During their journey, they got inspired by <<The Mascaret>> a tidal phenomenon that happens twice a day in the Garonne river in which the tide coming from the ocean forms a wave of water reversing the direction. They will develop an exhibition reflecting on this environment, its public space, actors, and artists. The research for this project called <<Bal Mascaret>> included visits to many artists' studios in this region.

About curators:
After meeting at the 58th Venice Biennale, where they worked with the Belgian Pavilion as part of the Young Curators Program, they decided to work occasionally as a duo. Their practices often focus on the intersection of art and landscape. In 2021, they were awarded the Lichen Prize for Curators at CIAP, Genk, and Curatorial Studies, Ghent.

Laila Melchior is an independent curator and researcher in the fields of contemporary art and audiovisual aesthetics. She works on projects related to art, film, and theory, seeking to integrate perspectives from the global South into her projects. Laila Melchior lives and works between Brussels and Mexico City.

Laila Melchior holds a master's degree in communication and culture from the UFRJ (BR) and a postgraduate degree in Curatorial Studies from KASK (BE). She is a co-founder of the curatorial board of Aventuras do Pensamento, a series of encounters between an audience and contemporary Brazilian thinkers, scientists, and artists that discuss urgent issues in the country's political, innovative, and creative horizon. She coordinates the Young Curators Programme, which promotes the engagement of emerging curators in the Belgian participation in the Venice Biennale.
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Koi Persyn in his artistic and curatorial trajectory encompasses notions of authorship and collectivity, using experimental exhibition formats in unconventional venues. His curatorial projects focus on experimental, interdisciplinary, and process-based practices through open-air exhibitions, collaborations, site-specific, and residency programs.

He obtained a Master of Arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, and a postgraduate degree in Curatorial Studies at KASK. Koi Persyn founded STOCK, a three-year residency program at Het Paviljoen in Ghent. He participated in the exchange program with the BIDAI college of arts in Kanazawa (JP). He worked in the Young Curators Program as a mediator for the Belgian pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. He was co-curator of Publiek Park, an open-air group exhibition in the Citadelpark of Ghent, as part of his activities with the Young Friends of S.M.A.K.

The program is supported and funded by the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine