Last month, our open gathering #5 was cancelled due to a heatwave. It won’t be the last time. Extreme weather events like that will keep arriving. Art doesn’t stop a pipeline. But it can rupture the frames that make fossil sponsorship feel normal and rehearse the collective courage that direct action needs to happen at all.
During this session, with Andrei, Nuka, and Somer, artists-in-residence at Home of Participation, we visited a green patch at a busy Amsterdam intersection. We sat in the walking path instead of on the grass, speculated about strategies for possible worlds, and found the beginning of a we that can act together. When imagination is embodied, it becomes something we can feel and act from.
The Artists:
Andrei Bessa is a bixa, bear, fat performer and dramaturg from Northeast Brazil, based in Lisbon. His practice spans dance, theatre, writing and image-making. Guided by insistence as a creative method, he claims the fat body as a site of aesthetic invention, political friction and improbable fabulations.
Nuka Horvat (they/he) is a queer multimedia artist working both visually and with sound. Their practice engages with themes of queerness, social alienation, digital culture, and (post-)capitalism. Beyond individual artistic production, they are invested in building cultural infrastructures for queer communities through publishing, community organising, and collaborative art-making.
Somer Şpat is a multidisciplinary artist and cultural organizer from Prizren, Kosovo. His practice explores forgotten histories, collective memory, and the ways political and social processes shape collective narratives. Through artistic research, collaborative projects, and independent cultural initiatives, he creates situations for experimentation, exchange, and collective reflection.
Disclaimer: 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.