Zoja Smutny

Choreographer

Zoja Smutny is an interdisciplinary artist who uses choreography and liveness as an entry point into making artworks. For the last several years, her practice has laboured over two questions: “How will we spend time together?” and “How can dance make an object?” Through this line of inquiry, the concept album Rosé Porn, a collaboration with music producer/artist Victoria Cheong, came to be. The exhibition Rosé Porn opens on July 13 at Zalucky Contemporary with a performance at 4pm.

Zoja was born in Czechoslovakia to a Greek mother and Czech father during the time of the Russian occupation. In 1977, her family was forced to escape and moved to Canada. Her work is influenced by her personal history of displacement, the desire to belong, finding ways of communicating, movement, music, fashion, pop, images, and fantasy. She is deeply devoted to collaboration and it informs the core of her practice. Her main body of work has been produced alongside photographer Guntar Kravis (CDN) and visual artist Athina Stamati (GR). She received a Masters from UDK/HZT in Berlin.