Practical
Wednesday, 22 May, 2024
- 20:00 until 22:00
Pilar Box
Triomflaan, VUB Entrance 6
1050
Brussels
€ 5/€8 (suggested price)/€12
The realm of fungi challenges our conventional notions of individuality, intelligence, collaboration, immunity, and mortality. While it is being extensively studied for its innovative applications and for its therapeutic properties, there remains a vast terrain awaiting exploration. By immersing ourselves in the study of molds and engaging with mycelium in collaborative efforts, we invoke a rich fungal imagery. Embracing the concept of ‘mushrooming’ as a methodology also prompts contemplation in the vitality inherent in live arts. Moreover, if we acknowledge that performance and theater are akin to living ruins, constantly undergoing transformation, how do we approach their impermanence, adaptability, and interconnectedness within larger ecological systems?
Giuliana Furci, an internationally renowned field mycologist and author of numerous guides, as well as the founder of the Fungi Foundation – the worlds’ first NGO dedicated to fungal conservation – will share insights into her discoveries, advancements in fungal technologies, and the evolving landscape of mycology.
Sara Manente will contribute her perspective, reflecting on her recent projects and collaborative endeavors, including MOLD, RUINED and ROT magazines and garden. Together with artist Augusto Corrieri, they will delve into the intersection of fungal studies, contemporary performance, and ecological consciousness, inviting us to reconsider our relationship with the living world and the transformative potential inherent in embracing the fungal realm. Talk moderated by Eylül Fidan Akıncı.
Bios
Giuliana Furci is the foundress and CEO of the Fungi Foundation. She is also an associate at Harvard University, a National Geographic Explorer, a Dame of the Order of the Star of Italy, the deputy chair of the IUCN Fungal Conservation Committee, and the author of several titles, including a series of field guides to Chilean fungi. She has co-authored titles such as the 1st State of the World's Fungi (Kew, 2018), the publication that delimits the term “funga,” and the 3F Proposal - Fauna, Flora & Funga.
Augusto Corrieri is an artist, writer and researcher. His work focuses on questions of ecology, performance and perception. He has repeatedly turned to scenes of apparent emptiness and inactivity, for example with his book In Place of a Show: what happens inside theatres when nothing is happening (Bloomsbury). His performances and lectures have toured across Europe, including at Lisbon’s Teatro do Bairro Alto, Madrid’s Casa Encendida, Vienna’s Tanzquartier and London's Camden Arts Centre. Under the pseudonym Vincent Gambini he presents sleight-of-hand magic performances. Furthermore, he is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre & Performance at University of Sussex.
Sara Manente studied dance and semiotics before coming to Brussels, where she works as an artist and researcher. Her projects start from the images and matter of living cultures and fungi in relation to performing arts. In different formats, she reflects on the possible contagion/transfer between pedagogy, research, performance and publication.
Eylül Fidan Akıncı is a performance researcher, artist, and the house dramaturg of Theater a/d Rijn, Arnhem. She received her Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Akıncı's doctoral research “A Girl Is a Thing: Dramaturgies of Objects and Nature in Contemporary Choreography” focuses on the oeuvres of five women choreographers to untangle the performative paradoxes of agency and objectification from an ecofeminist perspective. She pursues her own environmental performance practice through collaborations with Taldans company
Organization
Part of A Series of More-Than-Human Encounters, a collaboration of Crosstalks and Kaaitheater. This talk is organized in collaboration with Pilar and Sara Manente in the context of the exhibition Towards a Ruined Theater.
The world needs you
This initiative is part of the public programme of VUB: a programme for everyone who believes that scientific knowledge sharing, critical thinking and dialogue are an important first step to create impact in the world.
As an Urban Engaged University, VUB aims to be a driver of change in the world. With our academic edcuational programmes and innovative research, we contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations and to making a difference locally and globally.