> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.catapult-platform.art/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Niki Danai Chania Will Not Let the Lamia Close Her Eyes - URL: https://www.catapult-platform.art/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio/ - Published: 2026-09-23T02:30:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-23T02:30:06.000Z - Description: Read our independent review of Niki Danai Chania's Lamiae at the Agora, Bonifacio, part of De Renava's Nimu Dormi, the third edition of the Biennale of Bonifacio, through Nov 5, 2026. - Author: Dominique Catherina Foertig - Tags: Exhibition, Myth & Folklore, Body & Feminism ## **De Renava's Nimu Dormi Presents Niki Danai Chania's Lamiae in Bonifacio** **De Renava** presents [**Niki Danai Chania**](https://nikidanai.com/?ref=catapult-platform.art)**'s** *Lamiae* as part of *Nimu Dormi*, the third edition of the [**Biennale of Bonifacio**](https://www.derenava-art.com/en?ref=catapult-platform.art), at the Agora in Bonifacio, curated by Prisca Meslier, through November 5, 2026. **Lamiae** **Artist:** Niki Danai Chania **Exhibition:** Lamiae, part of Nimu Dormi — Biennale de Renava #3 **Venue:** [ The Agora — Biennale de Renava ](https://www.derenava-art.com/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **City:** Bonifacio, Corsica, France **Dates:** May 23, 2026 – November 5, 2026 **Hours:** Tue–Sat 10:00–18:00 (May, Jun, Sep–Nov); 10:00–20:00 (Jul–Aug) **Address:** Caserne Montlaur, 20169 Bonifacio, France **Curator:** Prisca Meslier **Image Courtesy:** Courtesy the artist **Niki Danai Chania** presents *Lamiae* at the **Agora**, one of five heritage sites activated for *Nimu Dormi*, the third edition of the Biennale of Bonifacio, in Bonifacio, curated by Prisca Meslier, on view through November 5, 2026. ![catapult contemporary Niki Danai Chania exhibiton review](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-installation-01.webp) ****Niki Danai Chania,** Lamiae, installation view, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-detail-02.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-detail-01.webp) ****Niki Danai Chania**, Lamiae, detail view, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. De Renava translates *Nimu Dormi* as *No one sleeps* and frames the biennale around collective action, ritual and forms of occupation that emerge from people who remain awake. Chania's own statement likewise places vigilance, sleeplessness and collective agency at the centre of *Lamiae*. The Agora is a former nightclub, closed for three decades until the biennale opened it to the public again this year. Chania's central sculpture is a symmetrical wall relief in concrete, aluminum and steel mesh, its horned, mirrored form named after Lamia, drawing on a version of the Greek myth in which she is condemned to eternal wakefulness after being deprived of the ability to close her eyes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-work-01.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-work-02.webp) Niki Danai Chania, Lamiae, installation view, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. Two sculptural forms extend the same vocabulary on the floor and outside the room, and sound is by Marcel Dune with projection visuals by Ella Wanendeya. Across the installation, the artist lists aluminum, concrete, paper fibres, steel mesh and wood board as materials. Below, the artist explains why. --- *Lamiae* is a multimedia installation that considers the night as a space of collective agency and political potential. Drawing from the ancient Greek myth of Lamia, a figure cursed into monstrosity and eternal wakefulness after gods deprived her of the ability to close her eyes, the work repositions her not as a victim, but as an agent who reclaims control over how and when to see. ![Exhibition review of Niki Danai Chania: Lamiae at the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026. Egg-shaped hollow concrete form with a dark opening at its crown, on a steel base flanked by curved steel fin shapes.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-work-03.webp) ****Niki Danai Chania,** Lamiae, installation view, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. ![Exhibition review of Niki Danai Chania: Lamiae at the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026. Side view of a boulder with a single curved mirror-polished steel fin rising from a crevice against a plain wall.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-detail-04.webp) Niki Danai Chania, Lamiae, detail view, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. Lamia is not alone. Together with her kin, other Chthonic creatures, 'cursed' like her, she reclaims sleeplessness as a form of vigilance, a way of seeing differently and resisting imposed norms. Spoken from the perspective of the Lamiae as a collective, the narration connects the mythological figure to contemporary nocturnal communities, bodies and identities outside normative structures, where the mythical curse becomes an allegory for marginality and resistance and nocturnal rituals become sites of gathering and alternative social organisation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-installation-02.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-installation-03.webp) ****Niki Danai Chania,** Lamiae, installation view under night lighting, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-detail-05.webp) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1c/24/1c2478ff-417d-4e88-8226-288af467f6b9/content/images/2026/09/niki-danai-chania-lamiae-bonifacio-2026-installation-04.webp) ****Niki Danai Chania,** Lamiae, closing installation view under night lighting, the Agora, Bonifacio, 2026\. Photos courtesy of the artist. Curse and monstrosity are understood as imposed categories that can be turned into forms of agency, where sleeplessness is not exhaustion or affliction but heightened awareness that opens space for refusal, reorientation, and the rehearsal of other worlds within and beyond myth. The original story *Lamiae*, which the installation is based on, is available on request. --- MarcelDune I call it a gift now II 0:00 /172.176 1× **Sound Piece: Marcel Dune (@marceldune) Projection Visuals Design: Ella Wanendeya (@ella.wanendeya) Materials: Aluminum, Concrete, Paper Fibres, Steel Mesh, Wood Board Photos courtesy of the artist** --- **About the Artist** **Niki Danai Chania** Multidisciplinary artist and creative director working across sculpture, ceramics, sound and installation, often weaving personal narrative with myth and folklore. Co-founder of the studio Un.Processed.Realities and the ESTO Association, with residencies at Onassis AiR and the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC). [Website](https://nikidanai.com/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/niki%5F%5Fdanai/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **About the Location** **The Agora, Bonifacio** A former nightclub closed for three decades, reopened as one of five heritage sites of Biennale de Renava for Nimu Dormi, the biennale's third edition, held across Bonifacio's Caserne Montlaur. [Website](https://www.derenava-art.com/?ref=catapult-platform.art) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/derenava.art/?ref=catapult-platform.art) **About Catapult Contemporary - Art Platform Submission** This is an exhibition review published by Catapult — an independent editorial platform for contemporary art, based in Vienna. We publish exhibition reviews, artist features, interviews, and critical context, with a focus on emerging and mid-career practices from Europe and beyond. 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