Somatic Arts and Liveable Futures: (Re-)Embodying Ecological Connections

Interactive public lecture presented at ‘(Re-)gaining Ecological Futures-Ecosomatics’

Floating University Berlin

23-25 June 2022

curated by Dr Berit FisCher

part of the project "Natureculture Pedagogies", funded by: Spartenoffene Förderung für Festivals und Reihen (zweijährig) der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa.

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SUMMARY:

This interactive lecture explores the role of the somatic arts in challenging the culture of separateness between humans and nature typical of Anthropocentrism. My aim is to enhance the debate on how to grow liveable futures in the face of ecological disaster. We will reflect on the possibility to re-activate our eco-consciousness through embodied practices of interconnectedness with nonhuman living beings and systems. We will discuss the cultural conditions shaping the growing field of ecosomatic practices and evaluate their political implications as acts of caring, collaboration and critical thinking. I will foreground the importance of awakening the neurobiological memory of the body and grieving for anthropogenic ecological losses. Natasha Myers’ concept of ‘Planthroposcene’ will be mobilised as an example of how we can envision the (re-)emergence of embodied ways of ‘conspiring’ with other forms of life. During the lecture the audience will be guided through some experiential processes of awareness through movement that can shift our apocalyptic perception of ecological crises.

Raffaele Rufo (PhD) is a dance, movement and theatre artist and educator and a scholar of sensory perception. After travelling across Europe, Africa, and Australia for more than two decades, Raffaele now resides in a natural reserve on the coast of Rome, where he explores the ecosomatic weavings of embodiment. www.raffaelerufo.com