Presented by Albert Potrony as part of the Bow Open Show 2025 public programme, A Twenty-Four Hour Truce is a public reading and reconstruction that brings to life the atmosphere and fierce debates among anti-sexist men and feminists of the early 1980s.

The performance is constructed from transcripts and academic texts that highlight the theoretical and personal tensions between men who wanted to change established notions of masculinity and their feminist contemporaries.

This performance is part of Albert Potrony’s The Achilles Heel Project. Through excavation and reconstruction, Potrony addresses Achilles Heel by re-visiting some of the intense ideals and arguments within the anti-sexist men’s movement: arguments that, over time, have resonated and reflected the struggle to combat sexism in broader social structures.

Achilles Heel was a publication produced between 1978 and 1999 by a collective of men. It aimed to challenge traditional forms of masculinity and patriarchy, and to support the creation of alternative social structures.

This event will take place in the Nunnery Gallery, 181 Bow Road, London, E3 2SJ. Doors will open at 7pm, with the public running from 7:30pm till 8:30pm, followed by open socialising time. The Nunnery Café will be open from 6-9pm, selling their usual fare of delicious drinks and snacks.

Free – Tickets must be booked to guarantee your place!

More about Albert Potrony

Albert Potrony’s participatory practice examines ideas of identity, community and language. Albert is interested in generating social spaces through his projects, and participation from diverse groups and individuals is a key element of his work. Recent projects include equal play (2021-2022), a play installation, reading space and participatory project looking at equality and care through the lens of childcare and men’s roles in it and The Achilles Heel Project, researching anti sexist men’s groups of the 70s and 80s, who were striving for a new type of masculinity that would embrace and support Feminism. For the past five years Albert has been developing MORTALS, a participatory art and research project that seeks to address our own mortality; exploring ageing, care, loss, grief and death with diverse groups and collectives. Albert was with Bow Arts from the very start, helping to establish our first home on Bow Road. He worked as one of our Artist Educators, bringing participatory projects to schools and communities in east London.