BODYLAND@Josaphat Parc 2021

Bodyland is a site-specific multi-sensory performative parcours.
The project involves two stages of work.

 
STAGE 1: MEDIATION ART PROJECT
Exploration of the territory in terms of architectural and human heritage.
 
INTERVIEWS: Collecting, in the form of an audio interview, the widest plurality of voices, around the theme of sensory memory, starting with a practice of concentration/meditation/contemplation, based on relational softness and attention to the body in the present moment. 
This practice, which may be similar to Yoga Nidra techniques, allows one to expand one's consciousness by reconnecting to the body, allowing immediate and instinctive access to a vast wealth of images.
The interviews allow on the one hand to collect material useful for the dramaturgical writing of the journey, on the other hand to weave links with the community / create a community around the project.
 
WORKSHOPS: Sensory exploration sessions based on theatrical-vocal-graphic practices, with the aim of reconnecting the audience to instinctive gesture (the word gesture is used here in the broadest sense to include speech, sound, physical movement and graphics).
Like the interviews, the workshops will provide material for the dramaturgy of the Journey, to weave and create community, but also to consider which individuals could be integrated into the Journey as performers. 

​

STEP 2: WRITING
What happens with the transformation of the material?

Bodyland is an immersive theatrical device based on sensory stimulation.
Seven senses are taken into consideration: to the five normally considered (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste) are added proprioception and the sense of Time (duration, rhythm, order, simultaneity).
 
The elements collected during the interviews are manifested within the Journey in several forms
- in terms of objects or actions or details of another nature, which are placed concretely along the route (example: seeds appear in a memory, seeds are used in the performance as object)
- in terms of sound, some elements of the interviews are used in the sound design process for the creation of the interactive audio guide with which the parcours starts.  
- in terms of narration, elements can be presented in the form of storytelling/ oral sharing by the actors
- in terms of material/theme of vocal improvisation, musically elaborated in the work of spatialization of sound in circle song
- in terms of material elaborated visually within the digital installation
 
The basic format of the project therefore includes the working methodology during the preparation stages and the dramaturgical structure of the audio guide.
 

What evolves according to the location is the actual content of the parcours: the stories, the characters, the itinerary, the site-specific interactions.  

​

The project developped in Josaphat Park between February and May 2021, involved the following partners and institutions:

-Centre Benenzon Belgique

-La Laiterie du Parc Josaphat

-École Chazal (students from 1st, 3rd, 5th)

-École 3 (5th A, 5th B)

-Parc visitors

-Parc shop keepers