GRAIN

GRAIN: the flight of the seeds

Location of activities and scope

Porto, Portugal

Portugal – Festival animation

 

Executive Summary

GRAIN is inspired by the connection between earth and sky, by the way seeds can travel long distances led by the wind or birds and by the notion that the animal, vegetal and mineral worlds share the same elements.

GRAIN is an open air performance that combines musical instruments made from natural elements such as earth, rocks and trees with aerial contemporary circus, motion sensors and computer musical processing, turning the performers’ and the audience’s bodies into musical instruments. It uses a universal and interactive language, engaging people from various ages, cultures and geographies.

GRAIN will be created in collaboration with biologists Ruben Heleno and Bernardo Sá Nogueira, and the art mediator Sara Franqueira. With them we will promote a talk about seed dispersal, soil preservation as well as the release of an educational booklet about SOILSCAPE’s themes and GRAIN’s process, connecting science and art.

Motivation Statement

Soil means seed, birth, growth, death, food, plants, breath, skin, water, planet, home.

“There is no opposition between the living and the non-living. Every living being is not only in continuity with the non-living, but it is its extension, its metamorphosis, its most extreme expression. Life is always the reincarnation of the non-living, the bricolage of the mineral, the carnival of the planet’s telluric substance” in Metamorphoses, by Emanuele Coccia.

Sub-project objectives

Creating a beautiful poetic and performative piece inspired by the themes of SOILSCAPE, engaging people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Documenting the creative process and the outcomes of the collaboration with biologists in a booklet, and sharing these ideas with the audience of the BioBlitz Festival. Organizing a talk with the biologists and the creative team to communicate the importance of soil preservation, the core ideas and themes of GRAIN, and the development process behind the project.

Challenges and how they will be addressed

GRAIN uses music, sound exploration, new circus and theatre in a poetic universal language engaging children and adults, people from different cultures and places. As in our previous projects, the challenge is always to work and communicate on different levels of depth, to be able to maintain interest and connection with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The educational booklet is also aimed at different kinds of public, as it will be designed like the performance with varying levels of depth and complexity. In this way we hope to extend the whole experience to schools and homes, promoting an intergenerational dialogue about these themes. We hope to attract a wide audience to the talk, using the attention the performance will surely gather at the BioBlitz, thus promoting soil literacy not only with the public already interested in these themes but also people who are not yet informed. The educational booklet will surely catch everyone’s attention, children included. We believe a change in the way we relate with nature has to happen from an early age and as we’ve seen in climate emergency activism it’s often young people who alert and inform the adults into subjects related to ecology and environmentalism.

Expected outcomes

GRAIN combines science and art through collaborative research, resulting in an open-air performance, a public talk, and the publication of an educational booklet addressing the themes of SOILSCAPE, as well as the inspirations and creative methodology behind our process. In doing so, the project aims to contribute to improving soil literacy in society.

By promoting discussions at home and in schools about the Soil Mission priorities, we believe the project can help influence changes in people’s habits and soil awareness, ultimately contributing to the reduction of desertification, the prevention of soil pollution, and the enhancement of sustainable environmental practices.

Meet the Project Team

Fernando Mota / Instrumentária Poética

Fernando Mota is a multifaceted artist, creates experimental musical instruments and sound objects from trees, rocks, water and other natural elements. Through listening, silence and shock, he questions the rhythm of everyday life and the expressive and symbolic possibilities of nature. Director, composer, sound artist and performer, he combines music, theatre, visual arts and poetry to create shows, installations and other artistic objects. Has worked in theatre productions for more than 30 years in different countries and continents. His work transcends geographic, cultural and linguistic boundaries. Collaborates with national and international theater, dance and film companies and promotes works with different groups and communities.

Contact – Alexandra Libânio

Email: producao.fernando.mota@gmail.com;

Phone: +351933210285; .

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Fernando Mota / Instrumentária Poética