CPPM OPEN CLASS: PEADER KIRK (United Kingdom) • CPPM AUTUMN 2025 SEASON

Peader Kirk

Peader Kirk is a British artist and director who works internationally, producing impactful projects across performance, sound art, and hip-hop theatre. His wide-ranging work varies from intimate, one-on-one experiences to large-scale public installations that transform urban environments. Central to Kirk’s artistic approach is an exploration of present-moment existence, especially how it relates to societal structures and specific geographical settings. He carefully creates experiences that intentionally blur the lines between audience and art, aiming for a “thin mediation” that encourages a deep sense of immersion for those engaging with his work.

Kirk’s creative process often involves site-specific installations, where the existing physical and social architecture of a location serves as the raw material for his art. He incorporates sound and object installations to create unique immersive environments that go beyond traditional theatrical formats. A recurring theme in his work is the re-enactment of personal and public events, conjuring parallel realities where the dynamics of a specific historical moment can be examined in the present. This approach challenges the traditional separation between the fictive and the real, encouraging a deeper exploration of the fabric of existence and prompting audiences to question the constructed nature of society itself.

A notable example of Kirk’s dedication to pushing boundaries in performance is “Where do we go from here / Kuhu Minek,” a durational 99-hour performance created with CPPM students in Tallinn, Estonia, in September 2020. Co-directed with Simona Gonella, this ambitious work was a continuous, non-stop marathon of presence, searching, establishing, and maintaining connection: giving, receiving, watching, perceiving, and listening while still living in a post-epidemic Covid world. The piece aimed to explore the “long moment we are living in and living through,” a moment that is constantly shifting and unique to each individual, yet raises universal questions about how we come together, share what we have, and navigate the future. Audiences were invited to come and go freely, staying for as long or as short a time as they wished, becoming an integral part of this extended artistic inquiry.

Over the past decade, Kirk, both as a solo artist and in collaboration with the collective Mkultra, has produced over 30 works supported by organisations such as Arts Council England, the British Council, and cultural ministries in Greece and Italy. His performances have appeared at prestigious venues and festivals including the ICA in London, the National Theatre of Greece in Athens, the Young Vic, and the Fabbrica Europa Festival. Notable collaborations include “Fitting” and “Fixing” with Matt Miller, exploring identity and family, and the critically acclaimed “Someone Loves You Drive With Care” with Tom Cassani, which toured internationally. Throughout his work, Kirk consistently challenges audiences to consider new social contexts and envision how they might positively influence the world.