ALL SORTS OF CARE
How can laughter be therapeutic?
How can immersing ourselves in nature soothe us?
How can the art of movement help us have a better, more creative relationship with the aging process?
In search of answers to these questions, the Developing Art Association launches the artistic research project All Sorts of Care: a series of artistic residencies dedicated to exploring the complex connections between body and mind, in the context of laughter, aging and the human presence, as a silent witness that is part of nature, all viewed through the filter of the idea of care. The residencies will consist of a series of practical workshops and conferences open to the public in Timișoara in March, in Cluj-Napoca in June and in Socolari, in Caraș-Severin County, in July. The final results of the project will be presented in September, in Bucharest, in an integrative event.
New and unexpected connections: between art and other disciplines, between artist and audience
Since 2016, the Developing Art Association has been proposing projects naturally at the confluence between art and other theoretical or practical disciplines, born out of a desire to bring extremes closer together, to focus on the connections between things rather than categorical separations, and to bring people current topics, treated in a creative way. In this spirit, the All Sorts of Care project starts from the book "The Care Manifesto: The Politics of Interdependence", published by a collective of scholars at the Canadian publisher Verso in 2020, a work that emphasizes the need for a revolution in contemporary mindset, highlighting that the action of caring must reclaim a central place in our thinking and the decisions we make, as only through caring for ourselves, other people and our natural environment can we sustainably achieve a balanced existence, development and prosperity.
This line of thinking is a natural development of projects already realized by the Developing Art team, such as (burn)out and Recovery, complex artistic researches on the themes of exhaustion and recovery, completed in 2022, and All Sorts of Feelings, an interdisciplinary project of choreographic research around the themes of loss and age, completed in 2023. The artistic core of the Developing Art team consists of Irina Marinescu, Andreea Novac and Alina Ușurelu, three artists with extensive experience, whose interests of artistic exploration have harmonized in almost ten years of collaboration, without losing their individuality. Their projects are conceived in such a way that they result in events of performative practices as well as workshops and theoretical conferences, each of which can function as stand-alone products, in turn constituting themselves as nuclei of inspiration and providing a long-term dimension to these researches.
Dancing with time, with nature and among laughter
In All Sorts of Care, Irina Marinescu, whose artistic practice is combined with an interest in therapeutic processes, will explore laughter and its effects, both in terms of specific movements, approached from the dance perspective, and from the psychological perspective, as a catalyst for well-being and healing, including also the social perspective, as a community bonding and as a mechanism for interaction and de-stressing. Her research is supported by Alisa Tarciniu, facilitator of laughter therapy workshops. This phase of the project will take place in March at the Cronic Love Productions studio in Timisoara, with an event open to the public on April 2.
The research direction of Andrea Novac's initiative is focused on the aging process from the specific perspective of a dancer, whose body is also her main tool of expression. With the support of the gerontologist Iulia Enache, the choreographer wants to challenge the "young/old" dichotomy, to deconstruct stereotypes and value categories associated with these ages, to use care, understanding and empathy to reconfigure mentalities, through a workshop at OM Choreographic Center, on June 15, and a presentation of the artistic research at Casa Tranzit in Cluj-Napoca, on June 23.
Alina Ușurelu explores in this project, as well as in her artistic practice in general, the mirroring between self-care and nature. Using an artistic methodology proposed by the group Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance (iLAND), the research questions the separation between 'man' and 'nature'. Based on scientific data from botany, permaculture and forestry, with the contribution of Anastazija Dimitrova (North Macedonia, PhD in Forest Engineering), the exploration also integrates the subjective experience of a dancer, whose medium of creative expression - the body - is undeniably part of nature. At the same time, Alina Ușurelu's residency is adapted to the place where it will take place - Socolari in the county of Caras-Severin, and its objective is to reiterate the therapeutic functions of the encounter between man and nature and to combine scientific knowledge with subjective knowledge based on observation and imagination, as well as to realize a performative route integrated in the unique natural space of that area. Subsequently, Alina Ușurelu will hold a workshop to present the research findings and Anastazija Dimitrova will lead a theoretical conference, both hosted at Faber in Timisoara in July.
The Developing Art Association's projects, through the openness they rely on to input from multiple sources, on the one hand, and on welcoming the public behind the scenes of artistic processes, on the other, manage to create a framework in which the boundaries between artist, theorist and audience become permeable, allowing for spectacular exchanges of ideas and unexpected paths of inspiration.
All Sorts of Care is a project of the Developing Art Association, co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund - AFCN.
Institutional Partners: Faber, Cronic Love Productions, Casa Tranzit, OM Choreographic Center, Casa Thea, Photography Resource Center.
Media partners: Radio România Cultural , Adevărul , Days and Nights , Metropolis Newspaper , Observator Cultural , Golan Magazine , The Institute , Bookhub , Capital Cultural , life.ro , Mindcraft Stories , Iscoada , Happ.ro , Spotmedia , Savantgarde .
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
all sorts of care | presentation of artistic residencies in Bucharest
What does care mean, in the context of aging, of connection with nature, in the context of movement and laughter?
On Saturday, September 14, from 6:00 PM, the Developing Art team invites you to an event built around the concepts of care and nurturing at the Photography Resource Center, Str. Popa Tatu, no. 68 (cdrf.ro)
On this occasion, we mark the end of the All Sorts of Care project, which focused throughout the year on the poetics of care (attention to oneself and to what surrounds us, problematizing age from a biological, artistic, and social point of view) using therapeutic laughter, valorizing the experiences that come with age, or redefining identity in relation to nature as artistic/conceptual working tools and frameworks.
The event brings together the research of artists Andreea Novac, Alina Ușurelu and Irina Marinescu carried out this year during artistic residencies in Timișoara, Cluj and Socolari, residencies in which the three artists, together with their collaborators (Iulia Enache, Anastazija Dimitrova and Alisa Tarciniu) held a series of practical workshops and conferences open to the public.
Program
18.00 "The numbness of your feet and the beauty of your hands"
Choreographer Andreea Novac and Iulia Enache (gerontologist/geriatrician):
Talking about age means problematizing a complex socio-cultural phenomenon. Talking about age in relation to the body and about aging as a natural but emotionally charged process means addressing attitudes, perceptions and values that are not always easy to manage.
19.00 "Ways of Giving Back"
Artist Alina Ușurelu and researcher Anastazija Dimitrova (North Macedonia, forestry expert):
When you ask yourself "how can I help nature?", you are already putting yourself in a superior position, without realizing it and without any ill intention. But by walking quietly through nature, becoming a silent and attentive witness, you notice that the systems around you are so complex and interconnected, so overwhelming, that you can't bear to see yourself separate from all those cycles and interweavings.
8:00 PM “How to move laughter?”
Artist Irina Marinescu (with the virtual participation of therapist Alisa Tarciniu):
What happens in the body, what muscles are involved, what hormones are triggered when we laugh? And what happens to people who don't (anymore) laugh? How can laughter be trained, physically? We imagined a gym for training laughter, a spa with laughter orchestras.
Access to the event is free for the public.
All Sorts of Care is a project of the Developing Art Association, co-financed by the Administration of the National Cultural Fund - AFCN.
Institutional Partners: Faber, Cronic Love Productions, Casa Tranzit, OM Choreographic Center, Casa Thea, Photography Resource Center.
Media partners: Radio România Cultural , Adevărul , Days and Nights , Metropolis Newspaper , Observator Cultural , Golan Magazine , The Institute , Bookhub , Capital Cultural , life.ro , Mindcraft Stories , Iscoada , Happ.ro , Spotmedia , Savantgarde .
The project does not necessarily represent the position of the National Cultural Fund Administration. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.
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