The week-long project, Ghostlines, forms a connection between toZOMIA in Vienna, and PINK, in central Manchester. Mads and Cara will translate the unique contexts of both sites into a creative method for exploration and sharing. As a starting point, they have looked to the similarities and unique contexts shared between the two venues. PINK is located between two major railway stations and is nestled alongside one of the busiest bus routes in Europe; toZOMIA is found in a newly formed quarter of Vienna, which reappropriates and reimagines the old railway yards and the former tracks of the Südbahnhof. The lines created by bus routes and railway tracks will shape methods of exploration and connection. For example, Mads and Cara will translate Südbahnhof’s web of routes onto the locale of Manchester’s Oxford Road, playing with the idea of certainty of direction. Through their actions, the artists reveal the complexities of ‘journeys’, excavating the hidden, ghosts, and buried memories in the neighbourhood.

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The global condition is at the forefront of the artist’s minds, and the project is rooted in the sense of displacement we have all recently experienced. The Covid pandemic has heightened anxiety, raised concerns about security, routine, community, and proximity. For some, their senses have been obscured, dampened, or at worst, silenced. For others, it has been a period of charged emotions, demonstrations, and a catalyst in advocating the need for change. As society begins to regain some semblance of normality, the world is exploring and questioning the parameters of trust, being, belonging, and global citizenship. Collectively we think about the ethical implications of our choices, we acknowledge our own anxieties: the pandemic, life and death, the climate crisis, Brexit, careers, networks, and what these examples mean for our futures. These positions and questions will be weaved through the new journeys, conversations, and performances that Mads and Cara create. 

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Mads Floor Andersen has presented his work internationally, such as at Belfast International Festival of Performance Art (BIFPA), Macau International Performance Art Festival, 20th Open Festival for Performance Art (China), Transart Communication (Hungary), Kalkota International Performance Art Festival (KIPAF), LAPSody (Helsinki), Month of Performance Art Berlin (MPA-B), International Festival of Performance Arts Copenhagen and many others. In parallel to his solo work, he also founded the Nomadic Arts Festival and worked as an executive producer on Transart Communication 30. He is simultaneously an active core member of the artist-led collective Tracing the Pathway. He lives and works in Vienna - madsfloorandersen.com

Cara Davies has presented solo projects and research across Central Europe, Scandinavia, Turkey, and the U.S.A. She has worked as curator for the Franko B Archive at the University of Bristol’s Theatre Collection and produced the exhibition Reading Franko B: Moments in Love. As Talks and Symposium Coordinator for The Parlour Showroom's project In the City, Research Assistant for The Performance Re-enactment Society's Group Show at the Arnolfini Bristol, and with Marina Abramovic on her symposium The Pigs of Today are The Hams of Tomorrow. She has also performed with Sardinian-based collective Caravan S.M.I on their project Paesaggi Interrotti. Cara is a founding member of the arts and research collective Tracing the Pathway and has co-produced and curated their project Groundwork in Milton Keynes. She lives and works in Somerset - caradavies.com

Matt Retallick is a curator, art historian, and writer. His most recent curatorial projects include Half Awake: Joe O’Rourke and Parham Ghalamdar at Bankley Gallery (2022), Irish Modernisms: legacies of modernism in the north at CCA Derry-Londonderry (2021), and Liam Fallon: Supersymmetry at The Turnpike, Greater Manchester (2019). Matt is currently researching for a PhD at Manchester School of Art, the first in-depth scholarly study of the artist Karl Weschke. He is a member of the Tate British Art Network, and honorary lifetime member of The Modernist Society, who published his slim volume St Ives Modernism in 2020. He lectures on art history, curation, and creative practice, and his acclaimed Instagram project @modernist.ie is a visual archive of everyday Irish design modernism. He lives and works in Liverpool – IG: @matt_retallick