Sailing to my Nearest Neighbours for Lockdown Cocktails: Reflections on The Politics of Home and Homemaking During a Pandemic

During the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Greek Cypriot artist Lia Lapithi transformed her home-based art studio into a bar where she performed seven episodes of her video work Sailing to my Nearest Neighbours for Lockdown Cocktails. Under normal circumstances, Lapithi would have sailed to neighbouring countries; however, due to Covid-19 and the closing of marinas, she instead ‘sailed’ to them virtually and shared drinks with her guests. In this chapter, Maria Photiou discusses with Lia Lapithi the politics of home and the conditions of creating art during a pandemic. Taking as a starting point Sailing to my Nearest Neighbours for Cocktails, this conversation explores the multiple perspectives of ‘homemaking’ in relation to gendered narratives, belonging, ‘national problems’ and ‘people’s struggles’, women’s initiatives, and the complexity of borders in local and global politics.