Passages in translation: A collective reading of Pasolini in other tongues

THIS IS AN INTERNAL EVENT EXCLUSIVE TO LONDON MET STAFF

is an on-demand laboratory to pitch and test ideas for further research development. It aims to provide a collegial platform to rehearse and/or seek feedback for a research presentation, practice and publication. It brings together a researcher and participants to explore a research idea and/or project through show and tell. The interactive lab is designed for the presenter to experiment with a preconceived project for further study and/or examine matters related to research development and collaboration.

This CREATURE Lab marks the fiftieth anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s M**der on a beach in Ostia. In this event, his poem Athens is reborn in many tongues. A group of artists, researchers and practitioners gather in London to read the poem to a live audience. Athens is an enigmatic piece, the memory of a place in times of uncertainty, possibly on a summer evening, or spanning centuries. Each voice carries an excerpt in their own language – Yoruba, Farsi, Sudanese Arabic, Tagalog, Polish, Maltese, Basque, Greek, alongside the original Italian – recalling regions and continents Pasolini had once filmed in or written about.

After the reading, the contributors will reflect on the process of translating the poem, which sparked conversations about themes that feel current: religion, family, sex, war, life in urban neighbourhoods. In searching for the right words, the performers rediscover their own stories of living between languages and places, belonging and not quite belonging.

The reading session marks the publication of Ektoras Arkomanis’ relevant research Passages in Translation in VIS Journal (Issue 15, March 2026), with contributions by the other participants.

Ektoras Arkomanis is an artist and a writer. He teaches history to architecture students in London Metropolitan University.

With translation and reading contributions by:

Adeyemi Akande is a researcher with interest in the material culture, religion, and visual art of pre-20th century West African societies. He lectures on history of art and architecture in London Metropolitan University.

Mina Boromand is a multidisciplinary artist, originally from Iran. She teaches critical creative practices to Art students in London Metropolitan University.

Davide Bugarin is an architectural designer and artist working with film, performance and installation to explore architectures of shame, sound, and colonial afterlives. He often collaborates with Angel Cohn Castle under the name Bugarin + Castle.

Ania Dabrowska is an artist, curator and lecturer in London Metropolitan University.

Nina Gerrada is an artist based in Malta, with a background in architecture and urban design.

Lucia Medina Uriarte is an architect working across practice, research and education between London and Zurich. She is currently working on a book about self-organised forms of architectural education and practice.

Niside Panebianco is an artist and visual researcher working with photography, archives, and time-based media. Her research explores matters of identity, memory and migration through collaborative practices and the use of mixed media.

Mae Shummo is a British Sudanese multidisciplinary artist and curator. Her curatorial research focuses on indigenous cultural production in a global context.

This event is for staff at London Met only. Please use your London Met email address to register.

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Image: Ektoras Arkomanis, translation notes

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Event Venue

London Metropolitan University, Goulston Street, Goulston Street, London, United Kingdom

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