The body as territory of our stories
This is an opening project via which the Stichting introduces itself to the community, specifically on this occasion to the inhabitants of Den Haag. Its central idea is to combine workshops with public presentations -where the workshops are inspired from an artistic event and experience- and through which artists and the audience establish a creative dialogue.
On this occasion, the project was shaped in five stages:
1. Presentation of a theatrical multidisciplinary performance called Zoom, created by the argentinean artist Luz Lassizuk, artistic director of CREËREN. This piece focuses on the idea that landscapes have an impact on people and their lives. The piece is a monologue with off-stage voices, sounds of nature and images of the landscapes screened live. The body of the performer is covered by miniature landscapes and the text refers to the lives of the people who inhabit them and their stories. The performer focuses the camera live on the different miniature scenarios over her body. The sounds during the narration help recreate the landscape with the aid of the senses. It is a play that seeks to fine-tune the sensory aspect through a combination of images, sounds, narration and performance.
In the same way as people are transformed by the landscapes, Zoom may also be regarded as a trip through different scenarios and the people living there, their thoughts and feelings, and the echoes reverberating in the audience. The stripped staging has a purpose: that the audience let themselves be engaged by the text, the sounds and the images. The work aims at stimulating the perception of the audience.
That being said, the first stage of the Creëen opening project presented this theatrical piece. The event was open for everyone who was interested, with special emphasis on access by those sectors that generally do not participate in this type of cultural event.
After the sharing of the piece, the audience was able to talk with the artists involved in the project.
2. Interdisciplinary workshops open for the audience.
The idea of these workshops was both to engage the audience in a collective creation process using their own stories as a basis, as well as fomenting an opportunity for people to become involved with others. Since the proposal was directed to people with different backgrounds the workshop functioned as a moment to share, to integrate, to collaborate.
During the workshop the participants took the piece Zoom as inspiration and were asked to write their own stories from the landscapes that were significant in their lives. For those who were foreigners, this was an opportunity to go back with their imagination to those places they love and to share their experiences with others.
The multiple activities of the workshop consisted of:
Movement Activities
Oriented to connect people with their feelings, their memories. Moreover, since the body is the “instrument” we have to connect with other people, the first part of the workshop aimed to sensitise the body and encourage openness towards others.
Writing Activities
Through different instructions participants were guided to write about their landscapes and stories. Although the creation of these texts was the final goal of this stage, the activities were intended to give people some basic tools to improve their creative writing skills.
Visual Activities
Consisting in using personal objects to create “personal altars”, maps of each individual story.
Musical Activities
Exercises on sonic memories both in a concrete and in a metaphorical way with the goal of using those sounds in the artistic outcome.
- Creation of a new piece.
Inspired in the structure of the original piece “Zoom”, the participants created a new piece using the material obtained in the classes. The idea was to build a piece collectively from their stories and landscapes. This phase of the project consisted both in the creation of the new piece of art and the rehearsals that were necessary in order to show the work to the community.
- Public performance.
Participants showed the results of their creations to the community. The performance was not only show the result of the work but also promote the interchange between community members (from NL and foreigners). Intimacy and personal stories were shared and bonding was encouraged. Also after this performance, the audience was able to talk with the creators about the process, the ideas, the emotions.
- Online documentation.
Once the project was finished, the recording of the pieces created will remain online in order to give continuity to the linkage between stakeholders.
This project took place during May, June and July 2022
All the activities above mentioned were coordinated by Luz Lassizuk, Frèdèrique van Dijk and Ezequiel Menalled.
Ph: Soledad Allami