THE NATURE OF US
ABOUT THE NATURE OF US PROJECT
Research Sessions and Conferences For Central European Performance Projects about the Natural World
Many innovating Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak dance and theatre creators are asking: just how connected are Central European people’s life, work, homes and cities to the Natural World, to the landscape, to the water, to the air around us. How serious are the crises we keep hearing about? How detached are we from our natural roots? Who are the real Central European experts in anthropology & sociology, climatology & oceanography, human geography & the economy who can give us the foundation we need to take the next steps as a culture? Performance creators are searching hard for the new role of art in a world where such questions need to be addressed. This project proposes to give such artists time to research and share these findings and test creative work, in dialogue with their Central European audiences.
Supported by the International Visegrad Fund, The Nature of Us project is open to new formulas in art practice and presentation in the context of serious environmental changes, committed to gradually changing the social environment and perceptions of Central European identity in relation to the natural world. The project encompasses an opening lab event and a major conference between fields of art and science, a public showing of a related existing central European performance, plus 4 ancillary artistic research sessions – 1 in each participating V4 country, all involving dialogue with the public, plus this blog and an e-publication.
Unique about this initiative is the commitment to put innovating performing arts creators in touch with leading experts from those fields. This should lead to future collaborations, where the experts themselves will find new avenues to communicate through the thriving performing arts world of the V4 countries, while artists will get the tools to meaningfully reflect on these complex themes in their creations.
These artistic research will allow creators to embody ideas discussed in the project and transfer them into the language of their art. The overall goal is to create a new situation where performing arts professionals can share and move forward with a solid understanding of the issues and create works that meaningfully address their audiences’ concerns about our identity in relation to our environment.
