R — REBECCA DANDREA
S — SILVIA GRONAU
creative community, totally shifting its previous socio-cultural identity. I feel connected to the landscape of the village as well as to its history, as it shaped my first perspective about the world.
DURING THIS PROJECT DID ANYTHING OCCUR THAT YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING?
S: I guess that the project is still evolving in me, I have been, since involved in the project, paying attention to what apparently is not present and that has been a wonderful discovery of how much we don't see and relate with.
WHY USE THE ‘BODY’ AS A CONTEXT FOR RECONNECTING A CITY?
R: It is through our body that we meet space, and we mutually shape and are shaped by this dialogue. By recognizing and creatively interacting with it we have an opportunity to re-imagine our position in space and this affects the quality of our way of relating to it.
IN THE CURRENT SOCIETY WE LIVE IN, HOW DO YOU OWN YOUR BODY?
S: My body is my mediator, my house and my mind. I practice meditation and contact improvisation to owe what is affecting my being and how I respond to life. I could not do that without my body.
R: In the current society, I feel that our body risks being continuously manipulated in different directions as our attention is constantly diverted and guided to absorb certain information that are not necessarily functional for its survival and well-being, but are aimed to make it dependent to sustain the survival of a consumerist system. Regaining access to an attentive dialogue with our environment can rewire our ability to imagine, dream and remember. It becomes a vital, political action in order to re-gain an ownership of our bodies and their ability to choose their direction in space and time.
WHAT DOES BEING UNITED [AS A CITY] MEAN TO YOU?
S: It is beyond having a sense of unity, it is a daily practice of perceiving what surrounds us, what affects us and how we affect each other and the environment. It is the space where we collectively feel responsible for what is happening.
R: I relate to unity as a coordinative force, enabling communication across different forms, allowing life to flow more permeability revealing similarities and points of dialogue in what at a first sight seems different.
> What have you learnt about yourself through this venture?
S: I'm not originally from Bristol or the UK but I belong everywhere.
R: The fundamental relevance to take time to explore and listen to be able to embody more fully the space and time we live in.To keep cultivating this by practising, dancing, exploring , to learn how to move towards a more sustainable way of living and communicating, to re harmonize the direction of our reality.
MEET THE ARTIST: BODY AS A CONTEXT