PAVILION OF
EMBRACES
The participatory social-art project was born out of awareness that our lives are woven from our relationships with our fellow human beings. In the midst of the contemporary individualistic preoccupation with self, image, identity and intangible internet “connectedness” the project aims at emphasizing the significance of our embodied, felt relationships. Through the suggested somatic practice with clay it is designed as a context and an opportunity where participants can dedicate, celebrate, affirm, empower, commemorate, transform and perhaps even heal those relationships that (have) meaningfully shape(d) their lives. By and large, it brings attention towards all-humans interconnectedness. By intertwining geographically distant or culturally different communities (with special attention and respect for indigenous peoples), the project states that caring for fellow human beings is not a matter of geo-cultural proximity or similarity, but of empathy, power of mind, spirit and heart. That humanity and sociality are universal human characteristics: part of an incredibly diverse, yet inevitably shared human story. By incorporating the seemingly “distant” thread into the shared relational fabric, the project also attempts to redefine the dangerous general perception, exemplified by the phrase “far from the eyes, far from the heart”.
GALLERY
[sculptures & sessions]
ABOUT THE PRACTICE
The working methods are a part of my long-standing work in somatic-dance practices, through which practitioners/participants reach mindfulness, become more observative and present in their bodies. It leads people to connect with their senses and through senses with other people. In time, I started to combine the somatic work with clay and explored the practice’s vast potentials.
The clay practice takes place in pairs or groups. With a properly adjusted approach and atmosphere, the process takes about 40-90 min (depending on the size of the group and the occasion). This includes an introduction + preparation for the work + practice + exchange of impressions (feedback) + agreements on which information could be published.
Participants are guided to engage in a “movement conversation of hands”, holding the clay between them, by which they simultaneously mold and form it. In this way, a clay object (a “sculpture”) grows spontaneously between their hands. The focus is not on the figurative form of the sculpture, but on the bodily (non-verbal) communication between the participants. It requires no particular creative/artistic skills from them. The clay is the medium, and its final form is the inevitable consequence of the exchange and contact. In this way, the participants create objects that are not made meaningful by their external visual image, but by the dynamics, presence, intention and mutual attention stored in them. Finally, they also give their sculpture the title and are considered its authors.
KINDLY INVITED TO PARTICIPATE! YOU CAN BOOK YOUR SESSION HERE
AIMS & TARGET GROUPS
CLUES
ABOUT CLAY
Due to highly adaptable and attentive approach of the somatic practice, the project aims at embracing a wide range of peoples’ relation(ship)s and related needs, focuses, concerns, opportunities or struggles. It can be done as:
– a playful-creative gathering (for families, friends, schoolmates, working/sport teams);
– a method of exploring and gaining assertiveness in relationships or a means that can accompany discussions;
– a way of paying respect to our elder relatives to memorize their touch and presence;
– an act of empowerment and statement-making (e.g. by groups of activists for environmental issues, women’s rights, etc.);
– as a special way of meeting with community leaders or, in some cultures/societies, knowledge keepers, as an act of listening to their knowledge and wisdom, and further reminding other societies of their significant role in/for communities;
– as many participants also report about the healing aspects/effects, it could well be used/adjusted for such purposes (e.g. within a therapy or support-group).
Relationship = something in-between,
born, formed and developed as individuals reach out to
each other. A dimension of co-existence.
The practice = a present to people
that gives the full experience of being-with-one-another.
Clay = a malleable material that absorbs, stores,
transforms & heals
(pressure, touchcontact, skin, impressions, energies,
desires, messages, memories, etc.).
Sculpture = a unique object, that can evoke the
experienced interconnectedness.
An artifact of interpersonal landscapes and
existential dimensions.
Eagle wings = an intrument & effect, spreading
through space, by which the nature of man as
an individual and collective/social being is revealed.
Exhibition = a garden of relation(ship)s
in which connectedness & transcendence
embrace its full poetics of human life.
Clay has always been an element of interpersonal and intercultural communication – both in terms of cultural exchange of objects (trade) and in terms of mastery of skills (e.g. the transmission of knowledge). Thus, it has always formed a link between contemporaries and ancestors. A bridge between material and spiritual culture. As an earthly material, it is also a link between all beings on the planet. The practice & the project are thus also designed as a gift-exchange process. In addition to the sculptures, each person (as an individual, but not necessarily individualistic, being) will also create two small clay imprints between his/her fingers – one of which will be woven into the “eagle’s wings”, while the other will be given as a gift to an unknown person in another country (culture). Like this, each participant will also receive the same gift from someone. All in all, everyone will become and get a silent ally to and by someone, somewhere in the world, and form a small individual, yet significant part of the collective wings of friendship.
Moreover, during the project, different groups of women will be invited to knit a continuous line of “feathers” – as yet another project’s dimension: an act of women-to-women mutual support, a joint endeavour in the world of increasing violence over women. Finally, this fabric and numerous clay imprints will be combined in the “eagle wings”, so to jointly resonate as an instrument, a “harp” that gives different struggles their voice through time & distances.
EXHIBITION & PERFORMANCE
[coming up in 2025]
The entire project Pavilion of embraces is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
The part of the project, Embraces to go, is co-supported by the Culture Moves Europe Mobility fund – European Union, Goethe Institute
This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
