Rotterdam is home to agora’s pilot hub which began in November 2023. A key part of the pilot are ‘slow’ residencies created by artists Kenny Gomes and Maria Magdalena Kozłowska, both of whom have very different practices: Kenny as a spoken word artist and jazz musician, and Maria as a music, theatre and opera maker. Different though they might be, the desire to seek a real truth within their work unites them.
In this special Q&A hosted by agora founder Naomi Russell, held in March in Rotterdam, Kenny explains the depth of his visceral personal experience and how these emotions influence his music, while Maria uncovers her passion for finding the voices of migrant Polish workers in Rotterdam.
Over the next three months, Kenny and Maria will showcase their residency in different ways. It will be fascinating to see how their work develops with the time and space of a slow residency in Rotterdam.
