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Vid Simoniti

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My first novel Optimisti is coming out in 2026!

It’s just been announced in the programme of @cankarjevazalozba imprint of @mladinskaknjiga . I’ve always wanted to return to writing in Slovenian, and I’m very grateful to this venerable publisher for letting the story see the light of day. The blurbs in SLO/ENG below.

(SLO) Optimisti
Začetek 21. stoletja se zdi perfekten čas za mladost v Ljubljani. Povsod so zabave in nove možnosti, gospodarstvo raste, napočil je čas nove Evrope. Dvajsetletni Valentin se iz Nemčije vrne v domovino svojih staršev, da bi študiral književnost. Diana, plesalka sredi tridesetih, želi svoji karieri dati še zadnjo priložnost. Skozi njuno mimobežno poletno afero se morata oba odločiti, ali je lahko ljubezen kaj več kot projekcija njunih umetniških ambicij. Roman, ki združuje elemente trilerja, farse in romance, tako oriše začetek in konec mladosti v mestu, kjer se vsi poznajo, ter ujame morda še zadnji trenutek, ko se je zdel svet obrnjen v bolj svetlo prihodnost.

(ENG) The Optimists
The beginning of the millennium seems like the perfect time to be young in a newly formed republic. Parties go on until the early hours, the economy is growing, and the moment of a new Europe has arrived. Valentin, in his twenties, returns from Germany to the homeland of his parents to study Slovene literature. Diana, a dancer in her thirties, wants to give her career one last chance. In the course of their summer affair, they must each decide whether love can be more than a projection of their artistic ambitions. Blending thriller, dark comedy and romance, the novel traces the beginning and the end of youth in a city where everybody knows each other, and captures that strange period when the world still seemed turned towards a bright future.

The pic (not the cover): me writing a first draft in a notebook, courtesy of @jamie.s.p by @vidsimoniti

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6 months ago

My new book available on pre-order now 🥳

Kind words at the back by Adrian Piper, @corneliaparkerartist and James Fox. Image by amazing @mauricembikayi

All this yours for £18.99, preorder now and get a free toaster (maybe)

Will be posting more in lead up to publication, but for now so happy it will see the light of day 24 October with @yalebooks by @vidsimoniti

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3 years ago

For Ai Weiwei’s Button Up! exhibition at @factory_international I’ll be giving a workshop on the history & politics of dissident art on 29 July. Free to attend, but book ahead (search for Salon Sessions Factory International).
Pics:
Two installation shots from the exhibition & a selfie with @aiww. by @vidsimoniti

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17 days ago

Predstavitev romana Optimisti v Konzorciju - z nenadkriljivo @anamariamitic
The book launch of Optimisti, with the ever-stupendous @anamariamitic at the Konzorcij bookshop @cankarjevazalozba @mladinskaknjiga

(SLO) Optimisti
Začetek 21. stoletja se zdi perfekten čas za mladost v Ljubljani. Povsod so zabave in nove možnosti, gospodarstvo raste, napočil je čas nove Evrope. Dvajsetletni Valentin se iz Nemčije vrne v domovino svojih staršev, da bi študiral književnost. Diana, plesalka sredi tridesetih, želi svoji karieri dati še zadnjo priložnost. Skozi njuno mimobežno poletno afero se morata oba odločiti, ali je lahko ljubezen kaj več kot projekcija njunih umetniških ambicij. Roman, ki združuje elemente trilerja, farse in romance, tako oriše začetek in konec mladosti v mestu, kjer se vsi poznajo, ter ujame morda še zadnji trenutek, ko se je zdel svet obrnjen v bolj svetlo prihodnost.

(ENG) The Optimists
The beginning of the millennium seems like the perfect time to be young in a newly formed republic. Parties go on until the early hours, the economy is growing, and the moment of a new Europe has arrived. Valentin, in his twenties, returns from Germany to the homeland of his parents to study Slovene literature. Diana, a dancer in her thirties, wants to give her career one last chance. In the course of their summer affair, they must each decide whether love can be more than a projection of their artistic ambitions. Blending thriller, dark comedy and romance, the novel traces the beginning and the end of youth in a city where everybody knows each other, and captures that strange period when the world still seemed turned towards a bright future. taken in Mladinska knjiga by @vidsimoniti

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a month ago

Roman je prispel! Optimisti v vsem svojem papirnatem veličanstvu, od danes naprodaj pri @mladinskaknjiga in @cankarjevazalozba

Po dolgem času strmenja v zaslon, sem presrečen, da lahko knjigo končno držim v rokah :) hvala uredniku Andreju Blatniku, vsem pri založbi in še posebej morebitnim bralcem in bralkam.

The physical manifestation of my novel is finally here - I’m super thankful to everyone at @cankarjevazalozba @mladinskaknjiga, also to @vanessa.brassey for the beautiful cover image, especially to editor Andrej Blatnik and above all to any reader that might happen upon it in Slovenian bookshops. by @vidsimoniti

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2 months ago

v četrtek 4.6. ob 18h predstavitev mojega romana Optimisti v Knjigarni Konzorcij Mladinske knjige 📕🍾 z mano se bo pogovarjala @anamariamitic
Vstop brez rezervacije, vsi dobrodošli

Book launch for my novel Optimisti (in Slovenian) at the Konzorcij Bookstore in Ljubljana, hosted by Ana Maria Mitić tomorrow 4 June at 18h xx taken in Mladinska knjiga by @vidsimoniti

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2 months ago

📚 Kako biti optimist v času, ki daje bore malo razlogov za optimizem?

Pisatelj Vid Simoniti vabi na predstavitev svojega prvenca Optimisti — romana z elementi farse, trilerja in romance o morda še zadnjem obdobju, ko je kazalo, da se svet vrti boljši prihodnosti naproti.

🗓 Četrtek, 4. junija, ob 18.00
📍 Konzorcij

Z avtorjem se bo pogovarjala Ana Maria Mitić.

Pridite na večer pogovora o generaciji, času in vprašanjih, ki so še kako aktualna tudi danes. ✨

#Optimisti #VidSimoniti #Konzorcij #predstavitevknjige #slovenskaliteratura by @vidsimoniti

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2 months ago

Wrote on “impact” in arts and culture, for @fact_liverpool journal. It’s been an itch I’ve wanted to scratch for a while, more so since I’ve had to start filling out those impact reports about my own work. arts & humanities can have a (positive) influence on society, but it does not follow that we can measure the supposed impact of individual artists or institutions. If anything, we should look for meaning, not impact.

image credits: Amartey Golding, Ain Bailey, Melanie Crean as featured in FACT Journal #2: Resolution, full details in the journal.

Some more texts / resources you may want to look at:
Old Fire Station‘s Meaningful Measurement project
Larne Abse Gogarty’s article “‘Usefuleness’ in Contemporary Art and Politics’ in Third Text
Marianna Ritchey’s article “Resisting Usefuleness” in Current Musicology by @vidsimoniti

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6 months ago

The reviews are in! Our chamber opera The Big Idea has finished touring Australia and the response has been fantastic —-> swipe through ✨✨✨✨

It’s been a joy to see this piece brought to life by the inimitable @rubikscollective & @dottelettsbean
💛💛💛

The Big Idea
Music @mshlomowitz
Words @vidsimoniti

Artists
Kaylie Melville percussion @kayliemelville
Tamara Kohler flutes @tamarakohler
Lotte Betts-Dean vocals @dottelettsbean
Gemma Kneale cello @gemmma_rose
Alex Raineri keyboards @alexplaysthepiano

Tilman Robinson sound design @tilmanr
Photography @jaredunderwoodmusic by @vidsimoniti

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9 months ago

Wrote for Marina Abramović’s catalogue for her Balkan Erotic Epic at @factory_international @abramovicinstitute

I write about the myth of the Balkans as the unruly subconsciousness of Europe: the eros-death drive explored in the culture of the region. Yu-rock music, the novels of Kadare, Marina’s performance art.

I 🖤writing and researching this essay & returning to the region I grew up in.

The show is incredible and unlike anything you’ve seen. All durational performance, Love dancing with Death, to the power of 100. Go see it.

Image credits
2: Tereza Mundilová
4: Marco Anelli @marco_anelli_studio
6: Marina Abramović archive taken in Aviva Studios, home of Factory International by @vidsimoniti

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9 months ago

🎙️Have you listened to the ‘Art Against the World’ podcast yet? ⁠
⁠
‘Art Against the World’ is presented by @vidsimoniti with contributions from #LB2025 curator @marieannemcquay, and delves into the themes and works at this year’s festival.⁠
⁠
The 6 episodes unpick the central idea of 'BEDROCK':⁠
⁠
🪨In an often polarised and fragmented world, what remains our bedrock? ⁠
🌍️What are the things that ground us? ⁠
⁠
Vid speaks to artists and thinkers to uncover different answers: from a shared family, history, or culture, to a critique of the economic and political realities that form our everyday experiences.⁠ ⁠
⁠
LB2025 Artists interviewed include Alice Rekab, Amber Akaunu, Cevdet Erek, ChihChung Chang, DARCH, Dawit L. Petros, Elizabeth Price, Jennifer Tee, Karen Tam, Linda Lamignan, Odur Ronald and Petros Moris. ⁠
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The podcast also features Dr Anjana Khatwa, Dr Emily Beswick, Felix Mufti, Jeff Young, Michelle Peterkin-Walker, Stephanie O'Rourke and Zi Lian Liao.⁠
⁠
Listen to the podcast as a series online via our link in bio, or scan the QR codes around our venues🤳⁠
⁠
Co-created with University of Liverpool.⁠ ⁠
Sound design by Luke Thomas. ⁠
Produced by Martha Murphy.⁠
⁠
📸: Mark McNulty. Stuart Whipps. Rob Battersby.⁠
⁠
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⁠
[Alt-text: (1) The top image shows glass on the floor with clay sculptures. The bottom image shows people watching a film in a dark room. (2) The top image shows a large empty building with bricks layered to look like a football stadium. The bottom image shows an outdoor mural of the Chinese arch on a brick wall. (3) The top image shows piles of soil with fake worms hanging over them in a gallery. The bottom image shows a glass box with different objects in it inside a library. (4) The top image is a film still of a church with the words "HERE WE ARE" written across it in blue. The bottom image shows canvases with various shapes made out of tulip petals. (5) The top image shows a room full of hanging fabrics, alongside chairs and props. The bottom image shows three screens displaying water, plants and cans. (6) The top image shows a shoe made out of aluminium on a shelf. The bottom image shows 5 mosaic sculptures outside The Oratory]⁠ taken in Liverpool Biennial by @vidsimoniti

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a year ago

Young Critics Program 2025 Mentors Announcement

We are delighted to welcome back Vid Simoniti as a returning mentor for this year’s Young Critics Program. Building on the spirit of his previous session, this year’s engagement will align with the thematic axis of Cognitive Rehearsals + Ethical Questions.

The session will explore how artist-critics reflect through their own practices using a psycho philosophical lens, considering the intersections of ethics, cognition, and artistic process. We are also excited to possibly weave in the ethos of Vid’s podcast Art Against the World, inviting participants to engage not only with writing and thought-building, but also with forms of critical listening and dialogue.

Vid’s approach offers a grounded yet expansive entry point into the core inquiries of the program, offering space for philosophical excavation and collaborative exploration.

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Vid Simoniti is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Liverpool. Most of his recent research investigates the relationship between aesthetics and politics, from both philosophical and art historical perspectives.

His book Artists Remake the World (Yale, 2023) examines the role of contemporary art in democracies. His collaborations as writer and broadcaster include BBC Radio 3, Ukrainian Pavilion at the 2024 Venice Biennale and the Liverpool Biennial.

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#Youngcriticsprogram #ycp #ycp2025 #ycpmentor #sphere #saodatismailova #davracollective #critics #criticalthinking by @vidsimoniti

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a year ago