The three-day symposium In the pause of a gesture there might be an echo, which was due to take place from May 1 to May 3, 2020, would have examined artistic affiliations with heritage in a European context through a lively exchange of all kinds of understandings, perceptions, and experiences. The main feature of our symposium was to be interconnection and cooperation: “to allow for various practices from the cultural domain to touch each other and to move from their own fields of interests.” We were looking forward to everyone meeting and mingling and differing or fusing into new collaborations. The spread of COVID-19 interrupted the process and steered instantly all movements. Like everybody, we had to readjust. We decided, quite briskly, to move the symposium from the wonderful space of puntWG to an online environment. In a “mail to all,” without offering a clear structure or time frame, we asked the participants to rework their prepared presentations for an online format. Then the questions came pouring in. The practical and contextual questions of our participants urged us to put into words the process we were submerged in.

| When will the symposium take place?
Now that the symposium has become an online platform, there is a more fluid time frame. We are no longer bound to the first three days of May. Without a clear trajectory, living up to our title, we entered a pause in time.

| How should we continue within the process?
The resourcefulness of our participants was the fuel for the continuation of the symposium. They remodeled their presentations into relevant and responsive performances, adapted to the new circumstances. These resilient presentations act as the first layer of the platform. The first layer is the breeding ground for the second layer. In order to create space for a meaningful exchange of ideas and practices, we’ve connected participants and invited them to have one-on-one conversations and artistic encounters. Finally, a third layer is created by our independent moderator Richtje Reinsma. She developed a setup to interview the participants.

| What is the format and the role of these interviews?
The new circumstances persuaded Richtje to reformulate her goal to illuminate the participant’s individual perspectives and to look for relationships. She turned to her own practice in which she tries to connect to the object. Richtje’s interviews aim to unravel the role of the object within the pause of a gesture. She will invite the interviewees to reveal the sensory particulars of their relationship with a specific object and thus build a stage for their absence by voicing their materiality.

| Will it continue to grow?
The step-by-step approach we are now conducting is a process of growth. At this moment, we can dawdle and dedicate time and effort to see if these relationships between participants and their presentations could be developed in-depth. We are now in a state of flux, which offers a multitude of prospects, but there will be a time to consolidate and to move on.

The symposium In the pause of a gesture there might be an echo is organized by Suns and Stars and curated by Anastasija Pandilovska and Marjoca de Greef. The symposium is made possible with the kind support of: