Zhana Ivanova: Cadence
New performance for Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Dates: April 18, May 9 & 10, June 1 & 14, 2026
Time: 1:30 to 4pm
Zhana Ivanova's new work continues her longstanding inquiry into how bodies relate to structures of authority and control. Cadence (2026) has been comissioned for the exhibition For Beyond the Manosphere. Masculinities Today (17.04–2.08.2026). It is a durational performance involving six men, presented in the exhibition space over five afternoons spanning April to June.
Zhana Ivanova examines how masculinity is suggested and assumed through gestures, postures and movements: expressions that are often small, subtle and perceived as “natural” in everyday life. Ivanova’s work produces subtle shifts within clichés, modulating existing patterns of perception and subverting expectations.
Zhana Ivanova (Bulgaria, 1977) is a cross-disciplinary artist working with performance, installation, video, sound, and text. She studied at Queen Mary University College, London, and DasArts, Amsterdam; she was a resident at Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam (2012–13) and an artistic research fellow with THIRD, DAS Graduate School, Amsterdam (2021–24). Her scriptbased practice uses language to probe power structures, staging rule-governed live situations that surface relational tension while exposing the instability of their own systems. Recently she has exhibited at Kunsthalle Basel; Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo; Fondation d’Entreprise Ricard, Paris; Rozenstraat Amsterdam; Playground Festival – STUK / M Leuven; De Appel, Amsterdam; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris. Ivanova lives and works in Amsterdam.
