Zero-Impact or Can We Still Imagine a Future? With Lígia Soares, Henrique Frazão
In the next edition of Na Prática, Lígia Soares and Henrique Frazão invite us to look at the political impact of art-making and activism by bringing together different ways of thinking and acting in the world. Looking into the symbolic, literal, aesthetic and social dimension that an artistic gesture or a protest action take on, we will seek to explore perspectives and approaches that reinforce the political value of both practices around common causes. We will also pay attention to the way in which contexts define how our actions are interpreted — how the same discourse is received by different audiences on different occasions. Do artistic gesture and protest action carry or oppose each other? What do we really have in common that we can share?
With the idea of zero-impact as a motto to reflect on the impact of our actions, we will begin by recognising the erosion to which this expression has been subjected by the neoliberal narrative, which has pushed the solution of climate change onto individual consumption habits. From the point of view of artistic creation, there may not be a more mundane motivation than the desire to stir up collective will. Lígia Soares’ practice has taken this basic aspiration to the letter, to the point of creating works that are almost exclusively dedicated to making spectators feel uncomfortable with their passive status, or to making them parrot phrases they don’t identify with in order to feel to what extent they are led to repeat what has become consensual, or to singing a song in chorus in order to become involved in a group despite, for example, talking about the insurmountable singularities of love or to simply ‘cancelling out’ the presence of the actors so that they realise that if they want something to happen, they will have to do it themselves, repeating that if they want something to happen, they will have to do it themselves, repeating, ad nauseam that, if we want something to happen, we will have to do it ourselves, and repeating that if you want something to happen, you will have to do it yourself. The question is how to find ways to circumvent the rules of the market, which absorb the meaning of all discourse within their logic of taste, and increase action? By engaging people?
We will take advantage of Na Prática’s immersive regime to let these questions live, take their time and follow various paths, resorting to a series of practices dictated by our curiosity, our body, either individually or collectively, and in contact with the other, with the ground we walk on and with the territory around us. A key question will sound in our ears: Who hasn’t lost heart yet? We can answer that question: climate activists. Retreating to this place where we can analyse the real meaning of our actions, do we still dare to imagine a future?
PRATICAL INFORMATION
Participants: Artists, researchers and students from all disciplinary areas, or anyone interested in collaborative practices or activism.
Maximum of participants: 12
Applications: Until May 20th
The sessions will be held in Portuguese, and in English, if needed.
Application fee
100 € (10% discount for FLUL students)*
Includes all the activities, accommodation (in dormitory), meals and insurance. Does not include traveling expenses.
Every year, we offer a scholarship to the IN PRACTICE – Summer School to one person from each of the partner schools:
— Students of the Program in Theater Studies or Researchers at the Center for Theater Studies at FLUL
— Students at the Master’s in Choreographic Creation and Professional Practices at the Superior School of Dance
— Students of the Theater’s and Fine Art’s Courses at ESAD.CR – Superior School of Arts and Design, Caldas da Rainha
*If this is your case, please fill in the fields on the form marked with
Registration mode
The interested people must fill this form (CLICK HERE).
The applications will be analyzed and there will be a selection, considering the diversity and relevance of the profile of the participants int the constitution of a workgroup and in the development of the proposed issues.
Dates: 2 — 6 july 2024
Venue: Centro Ciência Viva do Alviela (Alcanena), Portugal
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