Against the backdrop of a world that never powers down, attention shifts to the disconnection between the individual and the structures of modern life. These are systems that infiltrate even our dreams, demanding presence, productivity beyond daylight hours. A Song Used to Lull a Child to Sleep creates a space to question and unravel our contemporary relationship with sleep.
As the night is overtaken by screens, deadlines, and round-the-clock activities take over the night, our natural rhythms are being disrupted. Rest collapses under the weight of economic, social, and technological transformation, showing how deeply our patterns of rest are shaped by the world around us. To sleep is to swim against the tide of progress, to resist the guilt of ‘unused’ hours. The question lingers like a shadow at 3 AM: in this age of performative wakefulness, do we still possess the freedom, the biological sovereignty, to simply surrender? Or have we internalized the night shift of capitalism so completely that even our pillows feel like workstations?
And yet, the night remains a space of possibility. Insomnia becomes an act of defiance, a refusal to be lulled into compliance. The quiet hours become a space to listen inward, to push back against what the day demands. We often think of sleep as a mere recovery, but in reality it is a return to the body, to the self, to a rhythm no longer imposed, but chosen.
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SLPOVR is a curatorial collective based in Romania, boundlessly nomadic in its essence. We tend to show up, stay too long, and leave behind an exhibition, a group chat, and a few inside jokes. Rooted in hospitality and exchange, the project fosters a reciprocal relationship where creators and their environments continuously shape and inspire one another.